


When the Night Ends

by Inkpot



Series: Port in a Storm [2]
Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Angst, Hakuba being a good friend, Hurt/Comfort, I'll fix it later, Maybe - Freeform, Platonic Relationships, Tags will be updated, and I usually like purple but not purple prose, it may take a while, starts more hurt than comfort, the summary is still far too purple, the summary sucks okay ignore it please, this work contains loose ends that will be tied up when I find time to continue the series, though if you want romantic interactions speak up and I'll see if I can't do an offshoot, warning if you're still reading, why can't these paranoid children just get along
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2018-12-26 09:08:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12055779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkpot/pseuds/Inkpot
Summary: After the darkness is banished by the day, and secrets are forced to hide, what happens to our heroes? Can they get past their roles to be there for each other? (Sequel to Bad Nights.)





	1. That Awkward Morning

**Author's Note:**

> I should be doing homework. Instead I did this. A little short, but this is just the first part.  
> ...I just realized this is my first multi-chapter work on AO3. Wow. Making landmarks here.

Morning came, bringing with it sunlight that penetrated the curtains and fell on three slumbering figures. They all woke when Kaito tensed suddenly, Conan sleeping light due to (justifiable) paranoia and Hakuba already on the verge of wakefulness.

Conan quickly rolled off the edge of the bed, turning to smile brightly at his companions. “Good morning! Thanks for letting us stay over last night.”

Kaito blinked. “Uh. Sure, no problem. I’m just… gonna… yeah.” He slid off the bed and headed for the bathroom, followed by the sound of a door slamming.

Hakuba was still blinking sleepily when Kaito returned. Conan’s eyes darted toward him, then returned to where he was studiously studying the ceiling. Kaito blinked at him. “Are you looking for something?”

“Not being allowed to have caffeine does not make one a morning person,” he stated without looking away from the ceiling. The ‘and being six only does so much’ was kept silent in consideration for Hakuba’s presence.

Kaito’s expression smoothed, by a greater degree than could be attributed to the explanation. But nobody was watching close enough to catch his poker face settling back into place. “I can see that. Speaking of, do you want any? Caffeine, I mean, though I don’t want to keep you. I know you’ve got lots to do, day after a heist and all.”

Hakuba blinked at him, opened his mouth – presumably to point out that the bulk of the paperwork was usually delayed until the second day, or at least late afternoon, whenever possible – before closing it at a sharp elbow jab in the side. Conan smiled cheerfully at Kaito, not even glancing at Hakuba. “Don’t worry about it, we know you’ve probably got work to do and don’t want to get in your way, so we’ll just be going.”

Hakuba looked at Conan with almost puppylike confusion. “We will? Owowowow-”

“Come on, Hakuba-niichan, we should let your friend be,” Conan said while casually dragging Hakuba along by the tie. He let up when his captive started walking without the assistance.

He only paused after pulling on his shoes, turning to wave brightly at Kaito. “Bye-bye, niichan!”

Kaito barely managed a wave and a “Yeah, bye” before Conan dragged Hakuba out the door.

Once on the street, Hakuba pulled away and glowered down at the child detective. “What was that about?”

Conan rolled his eyes. “You couldn’t see his face when we woke up. He would’ve bolted if I hadn’t given him an escape route. It seemed best to let him process without the added stress of two detectives in the house.” He paused and looked up at Hakuba, eyes somber. “For what it’s worth… I didn’t want to leave him alone either. It just seemed better than having him panic.”

Hakuba turned to stare into space. “I suppose you’re right. In any case…” He pulled out his phone and speed dialed. “Hello, Baaya. Can you take me and Edogawa-kun to our respective residences? …Beside Nakamori’s house. …Thank you. And if possible, bring coffee for two.” He tucked the phone away, offering a brief explanation for that last request. “The adrenalin should wear off soon.”

Conan shot him a grateful look. Thanks given and accepted – Hakuba could hardly thank him out loud, not without bringing up the carefully unspoken truths about Kaito’s night job.

Somehow, it was easier to overlook those little details when it was late and everyone’s presence brought only comfort. Now their only shield against the truth was silence.

 

Kaito stood staring at the door for a good couple minutes before returning to his room to get dressed. He paused before doing so, noticing a piece of paper on the nightstand. A note. From one of the detectives, probably, and with nothing on it but a phone number.

He looked at it for a moment before pulling out a phone and adding the number to his contacts under _Tantei-kun_. Then he set the phone down, walked over to the nearest clear wall space, and began systematically banging his head against it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, if Conan seems a bit OOC it's because he's running on adrenalin and too little sleep. He'll get better after he gets his coffee.


	2. Introspection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see a bit of everyone's thoughts after everything. Also, surprise appearance from Hattori.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seem to be getting a variety of POVs and scene types in this work. It's kind of nice, actually. Good practice.  
> This is also the second time this work I've written someone not quite in their right mind (in a not-psychological way). A habit I should probably break before it forms. Gah.
> 
> For some reason Hattori keeps sneaking into my works even though I can't write him for anything. No easy traumatic backstory to poke. If anyone has suggestions, please feel free to share. I'm failing to think of much.

Conan was relieved to finally lock himself away on the pretext of ‘doing homework.’ Not that he wasn’t used to Ran’s motherly streak, but it was a bit of a hassle this time. She’d been frantic when he didn’t respond to her calls the night before (phone turned to vibrate, didn’t want to give himself away during a heist after all), so he had to assure her that he must’ve not heard it ring, he’d slept really deep and that was all, no he was just fine, it had nothing to do with the incident and he was sorry he didn’t mention it yesterday, but the Hakuba family doctor gave him a clean bill of health (Hakuba’s own contribution; he’d have to thank the Brit later) so it was fine, Ran, really, he was okay.

So. Yeah. Quiet was welcome.

Which of course meant his phone went off the moment he shut the door. He snapped something very ungradeschoolerlike as he fished it out and accepted the call. “If this is about last night, it was not my fault, everyone’s fine, and the next person to suggest otherwise will be receiving a reminder that as a homicide detective I know how to hide a body.”

There was a brief pause. “Glad we got that covered,” Hattori said, clearly holding back laughter. Or trying, anyway. Conan decided to let it slide. For now. “And I just wanted to check in. Ya didn't call me.”

...Okay, valid. Hattori could live. “I fell right asleep. Adrenaline crash.”

“Any reason you did that at Hakuba’s place instead a’ Mouri’s?”

Dammit. “You called Ran already.”

“Wanted to be sure everything was okay after what I heard. And I figured, better not risk neechan’s wrath if I woke you.”

Conan found himself wishing Hattori would be less logical so he could be mad properly. He quickly pushed the thought away and returned his focus to damage control. Actually, come to think of it, he did have something that should sidetrack the conversation neatly. “I think the black org is after KID.”

A pause. “How do you figure?”

“Gun-toting man wearing all black, no compunctions with taking a kid hostage, and I heard something about immortality in his speech.”

“Sounds familiar. And not that I'm not worried, but what’s that got to do with where you were last night?”

“...What are the chances of you accepting the topic change and forgetting about that?”

“Kudo.”

Conan sighed. “I was worried - there was blood on that roof, and it wasn't from me - and Hakuba knew a way to check on KID. What else could I do?”

The silence stretched on for several minutes as the implications of Conan’s admissions sunk in. He took the time to scowl his way through several pages of kiddie homework. If nothing else it could provide a distraction.

“Wait a sec, does that mean ya know his civilian identity?!”

Conan winced, almost dropping his pencil. “Maybe. Volume, Hattori.”

“Sorry, sorry.” The attempt at apologetic didn't seem very sorry to him, but at least he was trying. “So how come you haven't gone to the police? Or Hakuba, for that matter?”

“I don't know about Hakuba, but if you think about it for two seconds you'll know why I won't get him arrested.”

It was something that occurred to him as well. Not in a case of conscience - he himself always played fast and loose with the law when it came to catching criminals, so he couldn’t really complain about the whole ‘thief’ thing so long as KID returned his conquests and kept everyone safe. No, it was more the fact that arresting KID had always seemed like the logical conclusion of their interactions - someday KID would slip, or Conan would be especially sharp, and the thief would end up behind bars. But if the black org really was after him…

“That’d get him killed.” Hattori’s voice was flat, almost deadpan, as he made the connection. “Arresting him would be like giving him to them, gift wrapped with a giant bow.”

“Exactly. I’m not sure it’s them, but we can’t take that risk.”

“But Hakuba doesn’t know about them, right?”

“I don’t think so. Though I’m not going to bother trying to figure out what he does and doesn’t know after last night.”

“Sure, sure. But what I meant is… if he knows KID’s identity, why hasn’t he turned him in?”

Conan paused in the middle of his math problem. “I don’t know.”

 

 

_Either you raise your hand and ask to see the nurse or I ask for you and drag you there. And you know how that will look._

Kuroba looked at the note on his desk, then at Hakuba, who pretended not to notice. He was doing a very good job of pretending not to notice things that day. Like how Kuroba had makeup concealing the shadows beneath his eyes, or how his smile seemed that little bit more fake than usual, or how he got twitchy when Hakuba so much as glanced his way openly.

However, pretending not to notice and actually not noticing are two very different things. And while he would have preferred to just call Kuroba out and drag him home, reputation be damned (and yes, he was unfortunately aware of the whispering about UST and similar topics that always came up with their names), he had the feeling that after the events of a few nights before, direct intervention would be a worse idea than usual. Which was saying something.

Fortunately, Kuroba apparently took the threat seriously, turning away and raising his hand after just a moment. “Sensei, may I go to the nurse’s?”

Everyone in the class managed to both tense up and relax at the same time. On the one hand, that explained Kuroba’s atypically quiet demeanor that day in a way that didn't involve plotting and hair dye. On the other, he never asked to see the nurse, though he had passed out once or twice and been dragged out by Aoko.

The teacher seemed as confused as her students. “Ah, certainly. Hakuba-kun, could you go with him?”

Hakuba blinked. “Of course.” He rose from his seat, eyeing Kuroba's blank expression with trepidation. At least now he'd get the opportunity to check on him. He'd prefer to stop by his house after school, with the hope that meeting on his home ground would put him at ease. Though he couldn't have stayed long without the possibility that he was snooping coming up. Maybe this would be better.

“So were you planning to be sent with me?” Kuroba asked, tone almost casual.

Almost. Time to choose his words carefully. “I was not, though I confess I am glad of the opportunity to ask after your condition. Especially with you returning to school when you're clearly not well.”

He turned away. “I’m fine.”

“Which is why you can't lie while looking me in the eye.” Kuroba hunched in on himself further. Hakuba suppressed a sigh. “Aoko is worried as well. If you won't take care of yourself so I can stop worrying, at least try in consideration for her.”

That got him a scoff. “ _You're_ worried about _me_?”

Hakuba was silent for a moment before he reached over, careful to broadcast the movement, and traced the edge of the bandage hidden under Kuroba’s uniform. “Don't I have reason?” he asked, voice soft.

Kuroba flinched, not quite jerking away. His eyes were wide as he met Hakuba’s earnest gaze, much like a rabbit's when cornered. Hakuba found he didn't much care for the comparison.

He tapped Kuroba’s arm once more before drawing back. “Make sure to have someone check that. It's at an awkward angle to see if it gets infected.”

They were silent the rest of the way to the nurse’s office. No words were exchanged while Kuroba explained his problem, and they only exchanged a nod when he left. Hakuba wasn’t sure if that was better or worse than the alternative.

 

 

Kaito wasn’t sure what to think of all this. There, that was the whole of it.

Well, okay, that was nothing like the whole, and not even the whole problem. It was the _result_ of the problem. The problem, in this case, being that he didn’t know how to deal with his detectives interacting in a way that _didn’t_ involve his potential (if unlikely) arrest.

But again, that was only the tip of the iceberg, and he didn't like to imagine what would happen when the rest came out. To the detectives, to the public, to himself, it didn't much matter.

He rolled over with a groan, partly out of frustration and partly because he'd managed to lean on his bad shoulder. It was more bruising than scrape at that point, not likely to get infected (despite Hakuba’s concern), though it was a bit tender. Hakuba just worried too much. He was fine.

That brought up another point. Since when did Hakuba care about his wellbeing? He had enough history with Kudo to believe that the shrunken detective might at least give a damn if he vanished, though even he showed more concern than Kaito expected. (He could have gotten that number without help. Giving it to him was a request. One he had answered, albeit flippantly.)

Hakuba, on the other hand. They'd never been anything but enemies, rivals at best, the animosity between them fueled by their respective roles. Even if they weren't basically sworn enemies, he would have expected Hakuba’s stubborn adherence to protocol to keep him from turning a blind eye for him, much less being actively helpful.

So there was his biggest hangup. Hakuba’s involvement made this go from ‘um, okay’ to ‘wait what just happened,’ and not in a good, KID-type way.

...He was tired, and not making much sense. Maybe Hakuba was on to something with insisting he go home. Or maybe it was the pain medication talking.

Kaito rolled over again, this time taking care not to jar his arm, and let his eyes close. He could worry about this when he wasn’t half delirious with exhaustion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we wait and see if I'll regret posting like this in the morning.  
> In other news, I changed the series title because I kept calling it that in my head. I like the symbolism anyway.


	3. Heists and Heart-to-Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> KID holds a heist. His detectives are not impressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple comments here. First, did anyone notice that there was never a concrete answer on Hakuba's motives? Because I was surprised nobody commented.
> 
> Second, feel free to roll your eyes at my idea of a heist note. Actually, please feel free to ask about my logic. I have a nice bit of reasoning for the gem's name and everything but it felt awkward and cluttered no matter how I phrased it.
> 
> Third, you may or may not have noticed my multiple levels of third person. These are the major four, from shallowest to deepest:  
> 1\. Surface-level, only actions with no thoughts aside from what you can get from expressions.  
> 2\. Basic thoughts, still action-based but with more attention to internal goings-on.  
> 3\. Deeper thoughts, more introspective but still allowing for active sequences.  
> 4\. Introspection, focused on internal thoughts and only allowing mild actions.
> 
> Most of this work so far falls into category 2, with exceptions being the first chapter (1) and Kaito's section at the end of chapter 2 (4). The reason I'm mentioning this is because at levels 1, 2, and even sometimes 3, you don't see everything a character is thinking. 
> 
> tl;dr if things seem out of nowhere, you may be missing information.
> 
> And on that note, keep in mind that if you kill the writer there will be nobody to write the rest of the story. Enjoy! :)

_When the maiden ceases her dance_

_Ceding to the powers of time and justice_

_I shall retrieve her heart_

 

Kaito skimmed the news idly, pretending not to notice Hakuba’s approach. Though he did glance up when he stood there for several seconds without speaking. “Problem?”

“I sincerely hope,” Hakuba hissed through gritted teeth, “that you are not as much of a fool as KID.”

“I’m not K- wait, what?” Kaito blinked up at him, confused by the sudden shift from their usual back and forth.

Hakuba took a deep breath, visibly restraining himself from – what? Yelling at him? Lashing out some other way? “I assume you saw the heist notice.” He gestured at the tablet, still on a news site.

Kaito glanced at it, then back up. “Um… yes?” He couldn’t quite keep the note of uncertainty out of his voice.

“And I assume you are aware that at his last heist, KID was injured. Doubtless he is not yet recovered.”

A twinge of pain ran through Kaito’s shoulder at the reminder. He fought it back and grinned. “Well it looks like he’s recovered enough to face off against you detectives. Maybe that says something about you, eh?”

The look on Hakuba’s face made him dial the grin back just a bit. “Perhaps,” he said slowly. “But I have no way of finding out if KID is still injured or not. And I doubt there will be an opportunity, seeing as he is known to be ambidextrous. However,” and here his gaze sharpened into a glare that pinned Kaito to his seat, “I also happen to know that you are right handed, yet you used your left hand for most things this week. So I am advising you to be more cautious and not exacerbate your injury.”

Kaito could only gape like a f- could only gape as Hakuba returned to his seat, apparently waiting for class to start as though nothing had happened. As though he hadn’t as good as said that he wasn’t going to use Kaito’s injury in his crusade to expose him as KID.

Not that he was complaining, but this weird behavior had been going on all week. First with insisting he go home _without_ trying to get involved directly (surprisingly thoughtful, as he realized later, and not just because of their reputations), now turning a blind eye to potential evidence.

By then class had started, but Kaito was too busy questioning life, the universe, and Hakuba to pay attention other than answering the occasional question, or even to notice the source of most of his questions sending him irritated looks.

Otherwise, the day passed as normal, up until he found himself cornered at lunch. Apparently saying he wanted to eat alone didn’t dissuade the detective from following him to the roof. Shocker.

“So did you get it examined?”

Kaito didn’t look up from unwrapping his lunch. “My essay? I can do my own work, you know.”

“Your shoulder. Don’t evade the question.”

He sighed and gave Hakuba a flat look. “Yes. I had someone check it and got it rebandaged with their help. Happy?”

“Possibly. How bad is it?”

He couldn’t quite keep from flinching, even if Hakuba had only nodded at his shoulder. “It’s fine,” he snapped. “I don’t know why you keep bugging me about it. It’s not like it’s any of your business.”

 Hakuba was silent for a long moment. Long enough that Kaito was beginning to be a little concerned. “No,” he finally said. “I suppose not. So long as you take care of it, then, I will refrain from asking.” And he turned and left as abruptly as he had that morning, barely keeping from running into a new arrival on the roof. He mumbled a quick apology, out of keeping with his usual manners, and ducked past her into the stairwell.

Akako paused to watch him leave before approaching. “You sent out a notice without waiting for your arm to heal?” she asked, restrained anger leaking into her tone.

He gave her the same flat look he’d given Hakuba. “Not KID. And not in the mood for this game.”

She opened her mouth, retort already on her tongue, then faltered. Something passed through her expression too fast to interpret. “I see,” she said, suddenly thoughtful. And maybe a little sad, though it was hard to tell with her.

She walked over to the fence a few steps away from him, gazing out into the distance. He eyed her for a moment before turning back to his food.

“It isn’t a bad thing to let other people care, you know.”

Kaito didn’t even look up this time. “I said I wasn’t in the mood.”

He could feel the raised eyebrow at that. After all, that wasn’t how he’d meant it when he first spoke. But she remained quiet until lunch ended and they returned to class.

Hakuba didn’t try to talk to him again that day.

 

Hakuba checked his watch. 11:54 exact on September 22, minutes before the Maiden’s Heart (a purplish sapphire so named because of the September birthstone) was scheduled to be taken.

Heist preparations were going well enough. Hakuba was giving everything a last once-over when he spotted his fellow detective talking to Nakamori. They both looked up at his approach.

“Hi Hakuba-niichan!” Conan chirped, bright and childlike. Though the enthusiasm was a little more forced than it usually was at heists.

“Hello, Edogawa-kun. Nakamori-keibu, would you mind if-?”

“Go ahead,” he said, waving them both away. “Just keep him out from underfoot. One kid running around is bad enough.”

Hakuba barely caught the flash of irritation in Conan’s eyes before it’s covered up with a smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nakamori said, already focused on something else.

Hakuba led Conan away, pausing once they reached a relatively deserted alcove. “I believe he meant it as a joke.”

“It’s fine,” the boy said with a small shrug. “I’m used to it. But that’s not why you’re here. How is he doing?” He looked up with eyes that were far too serious for an elementary schooler.

Eyes that Hakuba was long used to, so he didn’t comment, though he couldn’t help feeling unnerved. “He’s… better. Not healed. I cannot say for certain how much better he is, but certainly not fit for this much activity.”

“Thought so,” Conan said with a sigh. Then he looked up with an impish gleam in his eyes. “First to reach him gets first chance at yelling?”

Hakuba debated, then nodded. “Agreed.”

A commotion by the display attracted their attention to KID’s sudden presence. Without another word between them, they started running.

It was immediately obvious something was wrong. Everything seemed normal at a glance, confetti spewing and officers tripping over suddenly appearing ropes, but the performance was lackluster and generic, with fewer traps and far less showboating than KID usually did.

And then there was the fact that he was obviously favoring one side.

“I’m going to kill that idiot,” Conan hissed. Hakuba couldn’t fault him for it. Clearly he’d underestimated how badly Kaito was still injured.

They raced for the stairs, Conan managing to get ahead of him by ducking under some of KID’s rope traps. Which was mildly irritating, but also one more thing to add to the list of worrying details. Not that it needed more at this point.

Hakuba caught part of a statement as he reached the top of the stairs. “-priorities. My goal comes first.”

When he got outside, he found Conan glaring at a blank-faced thief. “And you’re being an idiot!” he yelled, clearly past caring whether his voice carried. “Why would that make it okay to stage a heist before your shoulder was healed?”

“I know my limits, tantei-kun.”

“Sure you do. And what if you’d been shot somewhere more important? I bet you still would’ve done this! It’s like you don’t care what happens to yourself! Don’t you know how to be careful?”

KID looked back impassively, none of his usual playfulness showing. “I’m not the one who goes chasing murderers despite my _age_.” Something about the way he said that last word gave it an ugly sting.

Conan jerked back like he’d been slapped. “You- that’s-” His voice broke, eyes wide. “Why would you…” he managed, before his expression hardened. “Fine. If that’s how it is.” And he turned and left through the stairwell door, letting it fall shut on its own. Hakuba could barely hear his footsteps as he left.

KID’s expression hadn’t changed. Hakuba was beginning to hate that impassive look of his. And it didn’t help that he was clearly missing something. “I see your shoulder is doing well,” he finally said, if only to break the painful silence.

“Well enough. I thought you weren’t asking.”

“If you took care of it,” Hakuba corrected. “Which you do not appear to be doing, considering that I said that to my _classmate._ Who, might I add, you typically deny having any relation to, other than that of fan and idol.”

That got a reaction, though it was a flash of fear. Not much of an improvement. Hakuba sighed and turned away, hands in his pockets. “I need to speak with Edogawa-kun. I’m sure he’ll want to discuss future methods to prevent KID escaping like he no doubt will today.”

When he turned back, there was a white handkerchief holding the Maiden’s Heart in the place where KID had been standing.

 

Conan was sitting at the bottom of the stairs when Hakuba passed by. He held up the handkerchief-wrapped gem, then left, presumably to drop it with someone on the task force. A few minutes later he returned and sat beside Conan.

“So,” he began, “I assume you would rather not discuss what he said.”

Conan let out a breath in one long huff. “If we can avoid it, please.” No need to get anyone else tangled up in this mess. But of all the things KID could say-!

“Then we won’t.” Hakuba’s tone was matter of fact, like it didn’t matter to him whether they discussed it or not.

Conan doubted that, somehow. Even if their detecting methods were very different, Hakuba had that same burning curiosity to fuel him. But at least it kept the other detective from getting involved with the black org. Which reminded him… “Why haven’t you gotten KID arrested?”

To his credit, Hakuba didn’t pretend to misunderstand the question. “I tried. He has alibis for multiple heists, including one where we were handcuffed together.”

That made all too much sense, considering the sort of person KID was. Still… “If you really wanted, you could have gotten evidence that night we visited your friend.”

There was a long pause. Conan didn’t prod; either Hakuba would tell him or he wouldn’t.

“It’s complicated,” he said quietly. “I could arrest him, but…” He grimaced. “I’d rather not talk about it, if it’s alright. If I think about it too much I’ll start questioning my sense of justice again.” He paused. “What about you? Most children your age are more likely to follow rules to the letter, yet I don’t see you trying to turn him in, despite admitting to knowing him before this.”

Conan only half registered anything after ‘most children your age.’ It wasn’t meant as disparaging, more a remark of him being outside the norm, but it _wasn’t_ the norm for him. And after what KID said-

He was a bit done with this day, that was all.

“My apologies.”

He blinked at Hakuba, clenched fists loosening. “Pardon?”

Hakuba looked apologetic, expression open and honestly remorseful. “I didn’t mean to bring up a sensitive topic. Age, I assume, after… earlier. I won’t make that mistake again.”

His eyes drifted down to his hands, still in loose fists. He opened them and laid them out flat on his knees. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

There was a brief silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Heavy, yes, but not uncomfortable. Still, it was late (or early? Almost one by then, it could be argued either way), and they both needed sleep.

“You should go. Mouri-san will be worried.”

Conan tensed. He was right, of course, but after tonight (after _KID_ had said-), he could hardly stand the thought of playing cute little Conan.

There had been moments when he’d wanted his original body back more, but it was a challenge to recall them just then.

Thankfully, Hakuba seemed to understand. “I can see if she’ll let you come with me for the night, if you want.”

Wordlessly, Conan nodded, taking Hakuba’s hand when they stood. Hakuba didn’t comment. He also refrained from saying anything when Conan had to put on the kiddy act to convince his sister, clinging to his side and exclaiming that he wanted to stay with him, _pleeeeaaaase_ Ran-neechan, or when Conan dropped his hand like it had burned him and almost jumped away as soon as they were out of sight.

Conan was grateful, but he couldn’t find the words to express himself. So he remained silent.

The car ride to Hakuba’s house was quiet. After a while, Hakuba remarked, “It’s not easy to constantly put on an act.” Conan gave him a curious look, wondering where he was going with this. “Not very healthy, either, but sometimes… sometimes there isn’t another choice. Still, everyone needs people who they can drop the act around.” He put the slightest extra emphasis on ‘everyone.’

Conan suppressed a wave of emotions (KID was supposed to be one of those people for him) and tilted his head in question. “Everyone?”

“Everyone.” The single word spoke volumes.

The rest of the drive took place in silence.


	4. Falling Out and Falling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally find out what was in that text Kaito sent Conan back in chapter 2. And some other, less important stuff happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters keep getting longer. I mean that literally, last chapter almost doubled the total word count and this has an extra five hundred words on that. Not that I'm complaining, inspiration is always nice. :)
> 
> Slightly early chapter! (I've been aiming for Mondays, not that it's been at all reliable.) There are two reasons for this. One, well, the chapter's done. Two, if I look at this chapter any more something bad will probably happen. It's reached that point on the inverted exponential curve of creativity and editing where I can't stop micromanaging but it doesn't seem to get any better. 
> 
> I wrote the second scene three times and the third twice, just because I couldn't find a POV that was comfortable. As a result I now have most of this chapter written in Kaito's POV and half of it in Conan's. And I'm still not happy with the middle scene. Forgiveness is _hard_. Still, did my best, and I hope it at least turned out decent.  
>  If anyone wants to see those other scenes, feel free to ask. I just don't want to spend time cleaning them up unless there's interest.
> 
> After last chapter, I spent some time glaring at Kaito, to which he responded by throwing song lyrics at me before curling up in a ball and crying. He calmed down eventually but now I have song lyrics and what do I do with these. (Which reminds me, if anyone has good songs for writing flustered characters, or just cutesy romantic songs in general, please share. Background music helps me set moods in my writing but most of what I have is either melancholy or angry.) 
> 
> Final note: made a few minor edits to Kaito's chunk of chapter 2. You don't have to go back and reread, they might not even be noticeable, but I felt it was worth mentioning.

Kuroba was quiet the next morning. Hakuba wanted to confront him, but he knew that would be a terrible idea. If nothing else, he needed to figure out what to say first.

Edogawa had been withdrawn for much of the night, only speaking for bare necessities and common courtesy. Hakuba didn't push; whatever had hurt so much about what KID said, it was Edogawa’s business to tell him or not.

Eventually, though, the younger detective had returned to something like his normal humor, and they had a talk about KID. Though it was more like a complaining session.

(“So he apparently thought it would be reassuring to text ‘dnt wrry, nt Bcoming a monk’. I spent half an hour on that before realizing it was a pun. He’s not holy. He _punned at me to say he didn't have a hole in him._ ”

“I’d like to say I’m surprised. But I’m really not.”)

That seemed to cheer C- Edogawa up, and they bid each other good night. But Hakuba was not a fool, nor was he oblivious. He could tell KID’s words still weighed heavy on the boy’s mind.

Which brought him back to the present. He couldn't confront Kuroba about anything KID-related and not expect vehement denials. Nor did it seem appropriate to ask about his strange attitude this morning after he'd made it clear that Hakuba’s meddling was unwelcome. Not that he'd paid much attention when it was about proving his identity as KID, but this was different.

His thoughts were cut short when Koizumi appeared and dragged Kuroba away with a vague comment about needing to talk to him. Hakuba could only blink as she walked out with his classmate in tow, Kuroba’s sputtered protests falling on deaf ears.

It took a moment before it occurred to him to follow. Not that he planned to pry into their affairs, but he was aware of Kuroba's inexplicable distaste for Koizumi’s company, and, well. Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but he couldn't bring himself to stay out of this.

He paused just inside the roof entrance when a sharp smack rang out. It wasn’t hard to guess who had slapped whom, so he took a seat at the top of the steps to wait. Something told him that Kuroba deserved it.

A few minutes passed, during which he made out the occasional raised voice, but not enough to make sense of anything but the two being upset at each other. Then they got quiet for a bit. He was debating the questionable merits of interrupting when Koizumi opened the door.

She glanced down, unsurprised at his presence. “Go on. Maybe you can talk some sense into him.” Without waiting for a response, she continued on down the stairs.

He watched her go with some confusion before shaking it off. _I can certainly try,_ he thought, turning and entering the roof, where Kaito stood with his back to the stairs.

He hesitated only briefly before joining him by the fence. There was a moment of silence to allow Kuroba the first move if he wanted it. But Hakuba would only wait so long, patience already thin. “Edogawa-kun seemed unsettled by last night’s KID encounter.”

Kuroba twitched, but his face betrayed only mild curiosity when he glanced over. “Oh?”

“Yes. Though I do not know why. However, seeing as he acquired KID’s number, I feel the best course would be for him to contact KID and sort out the… disagreement they had.”

“I don’t know why you’re telling me all this.”

A probing comment, trying to smoke out his intent. Hakuba couldn’t even pretend to be surprised. “Perhaps I wanted to see what such an expert on KID has to say about this plan. Do you believe your idol would actually listen?”

Kuroba gave him an ‘I know what you’re doing’ look, but didn’t call him out on it. “It’s not like I know him personally or anything.” Hakuba gave him a Look; he hesitated, then spoke again. “It depends on how they disagreed, right? I mean, if I were arguing with someone and was sure my point was right, but the other person disagreed, I might get mad enough to not want anything to do with them.”

Something about the way he said it made Hakuba sure it related to the situation somehow, though he couldn’t name how. “I think it’s more along the lines of KID saying something that shocked Edogawa-kun, mostly in that he would say it at all. I do not know why this is the case.” He was careful to emphasize this; no need to play who-knows-what when they had more pressing concerns. Like getting Kaito to talk to someone. Even if that someone couldn’t be him.

Kuroba hmmed, tilting his head back to look at the sky. “Depends on if he meant it. If he said it in the heat of the moment, maybe he’ll feel bad and apologize. It’s KID, though, so not in so many words as ‘I’m sorry.’”

That sounded about right. But with the way Kuroba was acting… “Do you believe he would do that?”

“The other option,” Kuroba continued as though Hakuba hadn’t spoken, “is that for some reason he’s trying to make the little detective mad. And it’s probably a good reason, if he did it even though it would hurt the kid. Someone would have to convince him to change his mind.”

Someone, he’d said, so not necessarily Hakuba. Possibly a conversation he’d already had, even. “Do you think someone might already have done so?”

He shrugged, turning back to the sky. “Dunno. Not KID, remember? I have no idea what he’s been up to since he vanished from the heist.”

It was expected, but the denial still stung a bit after the last few minutes’ openness, tangential as it was. Hakuba quickly banished any hurt from his expression and gave a cordial nod. “True. In any case, we should return to class.”

He turned to do just that when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. “Hey,” Kuroba said, expression hesitant when Hakuba looked back at him. “If… he hasn’t changed his mind, I’m sure you could convince him.” He managed a lopsided smile. “You’re a pretty persuasive guy, y’know?”

It wasn’t quite a thank you, and something of a sideways compliment, but Hakuba found himself inexplicably warmed by it nonetheless. He managed a smile in return. “Thank you. I think.”

Kuroba’s smile fell into a smirk, and he slipped past Hakuba to the stairs. “Well come on, then. If we’re late to class together you know what everyone’s gonna think.”

Hakuba grumbled something about them thinking it anyway, but allowed himself a smile when Kuroba laughed.

 

Conan looked at the phone with the air of someone having been handed a bomb, activation status unknown. He’d pulled up the contact (number unknown, of course), now all that remained was to press call.

Hakuba had suggested it, and they were at his house now, officially discussing the heist some more. Ran had expressed doubts, but let them go. They’d need a new excuse if they didn’t want her snooping.

(Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they just told her. It would be one less thing in his life he had to lie about.)

He glanced at Hakuba, who nodded, before looking at the phone in front of him again. Resisting the temptation to stall, he hit call and pressed the phone to his ear.

One ring, two – a click as the line connected.

There was a pause like the world held its breath for a long, stretched-out moment. Then- “Tantei-kun.”

Conan relaxed, not sure when he’d gone tense. “KID.”

“I admit, I didn’t expect to hear from you, at least not anytime soon.”

Another pause. “Oh?” Conan managed.

“…Indeed. It would have been justified if you chose not to contact me again. That being said… I… may have been out of line with what I said during our last meeting. …More so than I intended. For that, at least, I owe you an apology.”

Conan was still for a moment. Then his whole demeanor shifted. “What are you talking about, KID-san?” he asked, eyes wide and voice sugary sweet enough to make Hakuba choke in surprise. “You were right, I’m just a little kid. I don’t know much about stuff like getting shot, so I shouldn’t bug you about it.”

A long, tense silence settled over the room, during which Conan stubbornly refused to look at Hakuba despite the Brit’s eyes boring holes in his back.

“I suppose I deserve that,” KID finally said, voice touched with pain. “But I hope you realize I had a reason for acting as I did.”

Conan tilted his head in childish incomprehension. “Reason for what?”

There was a small burst of static that had time to fade out before KID spoke again. “For saying that,” he says, almost a whisper, and slightly choked. “I shouldn’t have done that, even if I did have a reason. I’m – I’m sorry.” The last words were just loud enough to hear, muted by restrained emotion. All Conan could pick out with certainty was resignation.

KID honestly didn’t believe he would be forgiven.

Conan was vaguely aware of Hakuba rising and leaving the room, granting them what privacy he could without leaving them for someone to walk in on. He resolved to thank Hakuba somehow for the kindness he’d shown these few days. But at that moment, he was too drained from it all to say much of anything, even to answer KID’s apology.

There were some odd shuffling noises and a sound vaguely reminiscent of a muffled trumpet. Conan listened in silence, trying to sort out his feelings as well as what on earth KID was doing to make those sounds. But more important, he should say something. “KID.”

The other side of the connection went dead silent. “…Yeah?”

Conan paused. The way he spoke… it reminded him less of Kaitou KID, with his rolling baritone and suave togetherness, and more of… of Kuroba Kaito, actually, the boy behind KID he’d only really seen once. It felt… oddly personal, hearing this side of KID. And not right. KID was… he was…

He took a deep breath, pulling himself together. Just a few minutes, that’s all. “I… don’t think I can forgive you just yet.”

“…But?” There was the slightest note of hope in Kuroba’s tone.

He paused longer this time, though not too long. Something told him the thief was on the verge of deciding he wouldn’t ever earn forgiveness and that would help absolutely nobody. And the answer wasn’t exactly hard. He just couldn’t seem to say it. So he picked something else. “You mentioned a reason.”

“…You’re not going to like it. But… does the term ‘crows’ mean anything to you? And I’m not talking about the birds.”

Conan’s grip on the phone tightened. Then those suspicions he’d shared with Hattori… “Explain.”

 

Kaito could tell most of what he’d said just confirmed Conan’s previously held suspicions. To his surprise, the explanation seemed to soothe some of the anger directed at him rather than making things worse. Maybe Akako had a point when she said Conan would understand. (He’d long given up trying to figure out how she knew about these things. She just sort of did.)

Though he knew he wasn’t completely off the hook just yet. That much was obvious just from Conan’s unusually chilly demeanor. At least he’d quit the little-kid act. Kaito wasn’t sure how much of that he could handle.

He heard the sound of footsteps in the background and Conan paused for a moment. “Hakuba-kun’s here,” he said. “I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Works for me,” Kaito said, reaching for his laptop. Might as well get some research done while they talked. “Anyway, let me just OW!” He managed not to drop the laptop despite the flare of pain in his shoulder.

“KID, what’s wrong?” Conan asked, voice sharp.

“It’s nothing, I’m fine,” Kaito said, somehow keeping his voice even. “Jostled my shoulder trying to grab my laptop.”

“That wouldn’t happen to be the same bullet wound you disregarded at your last heist, would it?” Hakuba asked in a dry tone that warned he would _know_ if Kaito tried to lie.

So he remained silent. _I plead the fifth, detective. …It was the fifth, right? Not exactly an American history expert…_

Conan sighed. “At least there’s something concrete I can ask you to do.” Kaito made a questioning noise. “Stop going to heists while you’re wounded. Idiot.”

“Hey!” Kaito pouted. “I am a fine judge of my ability to perform.”

“The only reason everyone on the task force didn't notice is because they were getting a close up view of the floor,” Hakuba said.

“Because I carefully eliminated the threats to compensate for my handicap.”

“Yet your rope trap failed to snare Edogawa-kun.”

“...It did?” Kaito managed to sound confused. He really wished Hakuba hadn’t brought that up; they’d been doing so well about not discussing those events, and knowing their third conversation partner’s ability to make connections…

“Of course it did,” Conan said softly. “He wanted me to get there first.”

Kaito didn't respond right away. “Perhaps I did. I don't see what it has to do with our original discussion.”

It wasn’t exactly subtle, but nobody argued the point. “In that case,” Conan said, “let’s get back to it. Has anyone even looked at your shoulder?”

“He says his assistant helped him rebandage it at some point,” Hakuba offered.

“And of course he can’t name the assistant because that would incriminate them. Or at least put us on their trail.” There was more than a little irritation in Conan’s voice, despite his apparent resolution not to press.

“Got it in one, Tantei-kun. Nothing personal.”

“Of course not.” There was a delay before he finished his comment. “What if you let someone else check?”

“…I assume you aren’t volunteering yourself.”

“No.” As much as Kaito expected it, the confirmation still stung. But perhaps it was for the best. Neither of them would have been very comfortable spending time together with recent events hanging over their heads. (He probably would’ve done it anyway, if Conan asked.)

“If I may,” Hakuba said, “I have some basic medical knowledge. Enough to gauge the severity of an injury, at least. I’ve been debating offering my expertise to a classmate who hurt his arm recently, but I feel this is more important.”

Kaito snorted. “You talk like you can’t use the knowledge more than once.”

“I can’t. Or won’t, at least, not in this case.”

It didn’t take a genius to catch the meaning hidden there. It could hardly even be considered hidden. Kaito paused to think it over. “Then you should talk to your classmate. I expect he needs the help more than I do… besides being easier to arrange a meeting with.”

“If you say so.”

“Then can you agree to at least tone it down a bit until you’re healed?”

Kaito released a long-suffering sigh. “Fiiiiiiiine. Worrying for nothing, honestly.”

He could just barely make out Hakuba muttering something in the background. Conan hummed agreement before speaking. “I’d rather worry about nothing than risk you getting hurt pulling some stunt while injured.”

Kaito was struck speechless. Even after all that, after he’d been a goddamn idiot (and other stronger words that he couldn’t use for fear of Aoko washing his mouth out with soap) and said _that_ to Conan, his detective still cared enough to worry about him.

Finally, Conan spoke again, freeing him from his stunned silence. “It’s getting late. Ran’s going to be worried.”

“Indeed. I’ll arrange for someone to drive you.” Hakuba paused. “Should I come along? I’m willing to offer excuses if you need.”

“Only if it’s not an inconvenience. I can handle it myself alright.”

“No trouble. I was planning to read a book or something like that after you left, so it hardly derails any careful planning.”

“I should go too,” Kaito said, somehow keeping his voice cheerful. “I hope to hear from you soon!”

“Wait, KID,” Conan called before he could hang up. “I… you know you can text me, right? I can’t answer calls in class, but I’ll see texts later, and. Well, you do have my number.”

Kaito couldn’t manage to speak for a moment. When he did, his tone was soft, gentle. “I’ll keep that in mind. And… thank you. To you as well, tantei-san.” He removed the phone from his ear and ended the call.

A moment later, curled into a ball and clutching his pillow tight, he finally let himself cry tears of pure relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I'm not sure where it was but at some point while writing this I had the thought "Hakuba sounds too British here" and then had to stop and bang my head against the wall for a minute.


	5. Aftermath and Bad Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heiji is understanding, Hakuba is _too_ understanding (to the point of missing the obvious), and Akako is just done with everything.
> 
> Alternatively: (insert character name here), stop. Some exceptions apply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mentioned self-destructive behavior. Someone help these poor children.
> 
> A few things I noticed/realized since last chapter:  
> -My author's notes are a bit long. Sorry bout that.  
> -Heiji apparently refuses to stay out of this story. Also he stole a POV section for himself. Hence mixing it up with the POVs this chapter, though I couldn't find someone for all three so you get one typical POV.  
> -Akako also insists on getting involved. Since it's relevant to the story, I have actually planned out what powers of hers work on Kaito and which don't, so feel free to ask.  
> -I'm still writing out the side scenes that don't come into the main story for whatever reason. Like the other side of phone calls, or Akako and Kaito's chat last chapter. If you're interested, say so, because I don't plan on posting them unless it's specifically requested.  
> -The Kudo parents are mentioned at one point. The incident being referred to is the one where they pretended to be black org. I might not be as strongly against that as some, but I have some feelings about that whole thing and I think they show.  
> -I really need to rename my word doc for this story. It's still labeled 'morning with angst' and it's not _always_ morning.  
>  -Reached the 10k mark! Woo!
> 
> On that note, enjoy the story!

Heiji was very much unsettled by the whole KID situation. Not because Kudo was getting involved with a felon (he’d done some less than legal things himself, and KID wasn’t hurting anyone), but because of how their bizarre friendship was affecting him.

Forgetting to call him after a heist like that, sure. Especially with the mess he’d apparently faced. And not turning the guy in made perfect sense if there was even a chance he was being targeted by the Black Org. (Which was another can of worms he didn’t plan to open any time soon.)

The real weirdness started after the most recent heist, when Kudo had sent him a text saying _everything’s fine, talk later_. His casual air during their chat the next day had been obviously forced. But all the prying in the world couldn’t get him to confess a secret when he was determined to lock it away, even if he couldn’t act well enough to deny its existence.

It had something to do with him being shrunk, and with KID, that much was obvious from what little he said before clamming up. Past that? Heiji hadn’t the slightest idea.

Then he’d called again a day or so later, confirming something for a case, and suddenly all was fine and dandy. On Kudo’s end, anyway. Heiji’s attempts to uncover what made everything better were brushed off, so he eventually relented and let the conversation return to the latest murder he’d stumbled on.

But those events set certain thoughts percolating in Heiji’s mind and, well. He’d been good about not missing school lately. He could afford to skip a few days in the interests of drawing out his friend’s secrets.

(If he were honest, it was as much the fact that Kudo bothered keeping anything from him as the presence of secrets to sniff out that got his detective instincts running. Kudo rarely even tried to keep things from him anymore, unless they were doing some type of deduction battle.)

So when he showed up at the Mouri household with no real warning, he fully expected some irritation. He didn’t expect to be dragged out barely before he finished exchanging greetings with the taller residents.

Kudo headed for the nearby park, ignoring anything Heiji had to say. He finally released his grip once they reached the shade of some trees and turned to glare, arms crossed severely over his chest. It was remarkable how intimidating he managed to be despite his size. “Explain.”

Heiji crossed his arms, mirroring Kudo. “Ya weren’t explaining anything, so I thought I’d look into things myself.”

Kudo stared at him for a moment, then sighed and checked for anyone listening in on them before pulling him to sit on a nearby bench for good measure, bringing their heads closer together. “This is about KID,” he said in a low tone. It wasn’t a question.

“Course it is.” Heiji looked at the detective sitting next to him, mildly irritated. “Something about this whole mess got you out of sorts, and I wanna know whether I should provide a friendly ear or be ready to punch someone.”

From the look he got, Kudo was not impressed. “Hattori, I really appreciate your willingness to help, but we’ve got this under control. And I think KID’s beating himself up enough without your help.”

Heiji frowned. “If KID’s mad at himself… what did he do?”

Kudo averted his eyes. “…Not important. He apologized, that’s all that matters.”

“Guess so, if you’ve forgiven him already.” Heiji could accept wanting to put things in the past. But then he noticed Kudo’s grimace. “…Unless you haven’t forgiven him.”

“Hattori, please. Drop it.”

“Only if you tell me what happened.”

There was a brief pause. “Will you stay out of it if I do?”

He didn’t dignify that with an answer, simply raising an eyebrow.

“Then I can’t tell you.”

“Hey!”

“Look, we’ve got it under control, it’ll only complicate things further if you-” His phone rang. He pulled it out and hissed something unintelligible. “Just a sec, have to take this.”

Heiji watched him answer the call, wondering who it was. Neechan, maybe, it looked like his ‘adult’ phone. Lucky for him, Kudo hadn’t actually asked him not to eavesdrop (not that it would’ve done any good), so he could in good conscience ignore the dirty look he got for failing to move away.

Kudo visibly blocked him out to focus on the phone as a cheerful voice rang through. “Hey, um. Sorry, you caught me at a bad time.”

More subdued, maybe apologetic – hard to tell over the phone and at a distance.

“No, no, don’t worry about it. Just… entertaining guests. Or _a_ guest.” Kudo paused to glare at Heiji and got a cheerful wave in response.

Resigned/amused tone.

“How did you know that? …Come to think of it, don’t tell me, it probably involves surveillance of questionable legality.”

Affronted noises.

Kudo’s face quirked into a familiar little smirk. “Sorry for insulting your professional pride. And I hope you realize you more or less implied that you always get caught doing surveillance.”

There was a brief pause before an emphatic groan echoed over the phone, loud enough that Heiji could hear it clearly. He snickered a bit, and Kudo looked to be resisting much the same reaction. “Anyway, what did you want to talk about? Can’t take too long or _someone_ will start causing trouble,” he gave Heiji a pointed look as the Osakan made himself look as innocent as possible (read: not very), “but I can take a few minutes.”

Another pause. When the other person next spoke, it was too quiet to make out much of anything.

Kudo didn’t answer right away. His voice when he finally did was soft and gentle, as was his expression. “That’s understandable. And I really can’t stay on the line, but it’s not that I wouldn’t if I had time.”

There was a sound like a harsh gust of wind, then a few words.

“…You’re welcome. Talk to you later.” Kudo waited, clearly giving the other person the chance to hang up.

Though they didn’t seem to realize it for a bit, at which point they stammered something quickly before ending the call. Kudo looked at the phone with a faintly wistful expression before stuffing it back in his pocket.

“So,” Heiji drawled, not missing the way Kudo tensed. Probably forgot he was there for a moment. “Got his number, huh?”

Kudo shrugged, relaxing. “Actually, I gave him mine, more to make a point than because I didn’t think he had it already.” His eyes darkened. “I’m glad I did.”

“Same.” He shrugged at Kudo’s surprised look. “If it’s like you said, and he’s more hung up on this than you are, it's best he can call you if need be.”

Kudo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “At this point I don't think he'll forgive himself, even once I forgive him. And it's… what he did isn't that bad.”

Heiji recognized that argument. He went from worried about KID to worried about Kudo in an instant. “You aren't just rationalizing this away, are you?”

Kudo looked affronted, opening his mouth to speak, before faltering as he realized what Heiji was getting at. “I - it's not the same thing. KID was trying to protect me.”

Heiji was dubious. “And your parents weren't?”

“Not in the same way.”

“You could just tell me what he did. Save us time spent beating around the bush.” He kicked at the nearby brush to emphasize.

Kudo grimaced. “It’s going to sound stupid.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

“...He made a comment about my physical age.”

Heiji blinked. “Pardon?”

Kudo groaned and buried his face in his hands. “I told you it’s stupid. I mean, you do it all the time and I don’t care, but he does it and it’s like he ratted me out to the org or something.”

“You felt betrayed.” Heiji’s mind was racing, counting out clues and coming to conclusions. Sure he sucked at dealing with emotions on a social level, but he couldn't be a detective without a basic understanding of them. And his friend clearly needed an objective opinion. “KID never acts like you're six, right?”

“More than that, sometimes it seems like he forgets,” he grumbled. “Like with the taser.”

Heiji winced. He’d heard about that one. At length. “Yeah, well, that's kinda my point. I joke about it, but he just ignores the whole height thing.”

“Child thing,” he corrected. “He sets some of his traps to target me in particular.”

“Details. The point is, you didn't expect him of all people to make an age crack.”

Kudo glared at him “I know that, do you think I somehow missed-” He faltered. “Oh.”

“What?”

“It's because he said it.”

Heiji resisted the urge to facepalm. Barely. “Well, obviously.”

“No, you don't understand. If you'd said it, or Ran, maybe even Hakuba, it wouldn't have been as big a deal. But KID…” His voice softened a bit. “He gets what it's like, never really being yourself. Which means he knew how much that had to hurt.”

There was a brief silence as Heiji digested that. “You said he was trying to protect you. From what?”

“The thing both of us are trying to protect everyone we know from.” His eyes, when they met Heiji’s, were dark and serious. “The black org.”

“But, then... why did he suddenly decide it was okay to have you around?”

Kudo frowned. “I don't know. He said something about a witch yelling at him, but I kind of assumed he was joking. Knowing him, though, I can't be sure.”

“A witch, huh? And I thought _you_ knew weird people.”

That got him a mischievous look. “But I do know weird people. I know you, don't I?”

“Why, you little-!” Heiji yelled, chasing the cackling brat across the park.

 

Kuroba didn’t come to school the day after their phone conversation. Hakuba would have worried if not for the text he received, complaining about catching a cold and ‘would you stop yelling already!’ (albeit with a few more typos), immediately followed by a ‘sorry, that was meant for Aoko’. He took the ‘mistake’ for what it was and resigned himself to not being able to check on the magician.

Fortunately for his peace of mind, Kuroba was back and causing havoc again the next day. He made the offer to examine his injury as discreetly as possible considering that everyone constantly kept a weather eye on the mischievous magician. Which is to say he cornered Kaito on the roof again.

(They really needed to find a new meeting place before somebody noticed how often they ‘happened’ to meet up there. Honestly, Hakuba had never thought he would be sneaking around to conceal a relationship that didn’t even exist, but he had to admit that he sucked at it.)

“So you’re asking if you can look at my arm because you’re worried that I’m still injured,” Kuroba said slowly, as though feeling out the words.

Hakuba sighed. “Yes, Kuroba, that is exactly what I just said.”

He held up his hands defensively. “Hey, just checking. I hadn’t expected that kind of request from you. It’s not like we’re on the best of terms.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you,” Hakuba said, a touch stiffly.

Kuroba blinked, eyeing him with something that wasn’t quite apprehension. Then he shrugged. “Alright. As long as you don’t mind going to my house.”

Hakuba couldn’t help wondering whether this was a test of trust or a display of caution. After all, he couldn’t exactly bug the place in advance when he wasn’t there, but it would also present a potential opportunity to snoop.

He would just have to be careful not to do anything questionable. After all, who knew if Kuroba would offer an opportunity like this again if he messed up.

They walked to Kuroba’s house together after school. Aoko unfortunately couldn’t come with them, though Hakuba suspected it was the sort of ‘unfortunate’ that came about from a wish to be far away when the metaphorical fur flew. Which, while insulting considering _he_ wasn’t the one who regularly chased Kuroba around the classroom with a mop, was less discomfiting than considering the other possible assumption, aka replacing ‘fur’ with ‘sparks.’

Regardless, they made it to the house without any trouble. A few minutes later found Hakuba finishing his inspection and redoing Kuroba’s bandages. “So what story have you been offering those who question your decreased mobility?” he asked, taping the material into place.

Kuroba winced, having grimaced his way through the process but seemingly determined not to let his discomfort show more than possible. “I haven’t, actually. Nobody’s asked.”

Hakuba set down the materials and leaned around to meet his eyes. “Meaning nobody noticed, or you evaded the question?”

Kuroba squirmed a little under his earnest gaze. “…Nobody asked. And I’m a pretty good actor, you know, most people actually didn’t notice.”

Good actor or not, that was somewhat worrying. “You mean to tell me that you were injured badly enough that it affected your physical abilities, and not even Aoko or Nakamori-keibu noticed?”

Kuroba suddenly couldn’t meet his eyes. “I guess not.”

Hakuba studied his tense posture and shifty gaze. He sighed heavily. “Alright then. If you don’t mind, I would feel better if you let me check on this in a week. You should minimize your acrobatics until then to help it heal.”

“Aw, what? That long?” Kuroba was pouting. Surprise, surprise.

Hakuba sighed. Again. “Would you rather continue your normal activities and make the healing process last even longer?”

“…”

“I thought as much. One week, minimal physical activity, and plenty of food and rest.” He rose and nodded politely. “I should get going. Thank you for accommodating me and my concerns.”

Kuroba seemed surprised. “Wait, you’re leaving already?”

“Well, yes. I did what I came here to do. It would be rude to continue my imposition on your space and time.”

“Oh. Well, okay. I’ll, uh, see you at school?” He didn’t sound especially certain, but there was something about his expression that made Hakuba reluctant to question it.

“Indeed. Until then.”

Kuroba saw him out, and as he called his driver to arrange a pickup at a local coffee shop, he couldn’t help feeling like he’d missed something.

 

Akako watched the two dance around each other through her crystal and firmly reminded herself that it would be unbecoming of her station to bang her head against the wall out of sheer frustration. She was tempted nonetheless.

Perhaps she ought to extend her surveillance to Hakuba. At the very least she could provide him with a better night’s sleep (hopefully making him less blind to the hints being dropped right in front of him), something she couldn’t do for Kuroba no matter how much she might wish otherwise. He _might_ accept Hakuba’s insistence on limited physical activity, but considering his sleep schedule as of late, rest was out of the question.

She wondered who he thought he was helping by working himself into the ground. Certainly not Edogawa. If anything, the boy would most likely be upset at him for not taking care of himself. And the fool’s immunity to most of her magic made it impossible to deal with this new self-destructive streak efficiently.

Sometimes she missed the days when her biggest problems involved being fawned over too much to go out in public. Interpersonal relationships were _hard,_ especially when you were making a point of not manipulating the emotions of the people involved, and she hoped Kuroba would appreciate the effort whenever he managed to pull his head out of his rear.


	6. Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life happens. Important events occur without much fanfare, or any whatsoever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This feels much more like filler than I'm happy with, but there's stuff here that had to happen. And I wasn't going to skip two weeks so we could go back to fully functional Kaito. My current max time skip ran past three days, between this chapter and the last, and until I have a good reason I'm going to keep it that way.
> 
> In case anyone's curious, by the end of this chapter events in this story have taken half a month to a month. I'm too lazy to count out the exact number of days, but my calendar is accurate enough that I probably could. 
> 
> Fair warning, the names people call themselves and others are usually very important in my works. For example, you may or may not have noticed that Hakuba started referring to Conan as Edogawa in his head after the Maiden's Heart heist. This also applies to titles like thief and magician. Plus, what they say and what they think may differ (ex. Hakuba called him Edogawa out loud from the start, even if he called him Conan in his thoughts). So if you want some insight into how these characters view each other, look for those cues.
> 
> Next chapter we should be able to get back to some action, be it emotional, physical, or both. I'm guessing both, but we'll have to wait and see. Enjoy the story! :)

Hakuba chewed delicately on a bite of sandwich. He felt hyper-aware of the boy sitting across the table, even as said teenager laughed and poked fun at something one of the others had said.

It was Aoko who invited them, but something in the way she’d suggested it told Hakuba that it wasn’t originally her idea. He suspected Koizumi, though it could have been Kuroba just as easily. Not that it mattered much. The result was the same either way, with the four of them out chatting and eating lunch together.

Whether that was a good thing remained to be seen. After recent events, he was less sure than ever of his standing with Kuroba, and the unreadable glances thrown his way during class weren't helping.

For now, though, the magician seemed content with teasing Aoko about her milk mustache and dodging her attempts to smack him. Not that she was trying particularly hard. She seemed as aware as Hakuba that her childhood friend hadn't been this relaxed in some time. He was still stressed, that much was clear from the makeup smeared beneath his eyes and the decreased energy in just about everything he did. But he was more relaxed than Hakuba could recall seeing him since the Maiden’s Heart heist.

Koizumi, on the other hand, was more unreadable than ever. Aoko seemed oblivious, and it was impossible to tell for sure whether Kuroba had noticed, but her expression kept changing from smiling and happy to be spending time with friends to something cool, calculating, and possibly annoyed.

Koizumi was a bit of a mystery to him. Putting aside his romantic attraction for her (which, while unusual, did not stop him trying to act like a proper gentleman toward her, though from her early irritation with him he suspected he wasn’t entirely successful) and only looking at facts, he knew remarkably little about her. What he did know was that she had clearly expressed an interest in Kaito and actively tried to protect him from Hakuba’s traps, among other things. And though for some reason that wasn't enough for Kuroba to trust her, it was enough for Hakuba to at least consider her an ally in keeping him safe.

(She’d already been helping if his guess was correct. _Someone_ had convinced Kuroba to accept Edogawa’s call, and it wasn’t him.)

They finished eating and kept talking, reluctant to let go of the cheerful air. But Aoko had homework to do, and Kuroba made some vague excuse that Hakuba took to mean ‘planning for another heist.’ Regardless, it got a sharp look from Koizumi which was casually ignored as he headed out with Aoko.

Hakuba sighed and stood. “I suppose I should go as well. There’s some files-”

“Sit.”

He sat before Akako’s command registered, blinking in mild confusion. “Er. Alright. Is there something we need to talk about?”

She looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Hakuba-kun, be honest with me. You want what’s best for Kuroba-kun, correct?”

“Of course.” He didn’t have to think about the answer at all.

“And what do you think is best?”

He hesitated. “It… varies, a bit.”

She frowned. “True, though not what I was looking for. Tell me this, then. If you were given an opportunity to arrest KID, no more trouble for you or anyone else, would you take it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

He opened his mouth to reply – and froze. That was a question he’d been putting off since Edogawa asked much the same thing the week before. If he were honest with himself, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

Something changed in her eyes. “You aren’t letting him approach you. He’s been reaching out, but you’ve been so busy with your inner turmoil that you missed it. You must come to an accord with yourself before you can help him.” She stood and slung her bag over one shoulder. “I’ll see you in school tomorrow.” And she exited the shop, gone like a breeze.

 

Hakuba seemed less jumpy when he came to check Kaito’s injury the second time, a few days after the lunch meetup. Which was good, because Kaito was just as jumpy as the first time, and one of them needed to be calm about this.

‘This’, of course, being Operation: Make Friends with a Dense Detective, or MFwaDD for short.

Dense because he invited Hakuba to his house (which had been extremely nerve wracking, what with all the potential ways letting a detective into the home of multiple magicians could go wrong) and the idiot had made a point of leaving as soon as possible. Which was not conducive to getting to know each other properly.

This time Kaito was determined to make operation MFwaDD a success. He’d resort to a Holmes marathon if he had to. (He really hoped he wouldn't have to.)

“You should be able to move normally, so long as you take care and don't strain yourself,” Hakuba said, releasing his arm. “No need to cover it unless you're planning to do something that could cause it to reopen.” He fixed Kaito with a stern look to express his opinion of such actions.

Kaito rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt back on. “Got it, keep the acrobatics to a minimum. So can you stay for tea today, or are you going to vanish again?”

He winced internally once the words were out. So much for tact. But Hakuba didn’t seem offended. “I suppose I can stay. Only if I won’t be a bother.”

Kaito blinked. Seriously? It was that easy? …He should probably respond, huh. “Ah, no, it’s no trouble. I’ll just go put the tea on.” He scurried out of the room without waiting for a bemused Hakuba to respond.

Okay, so part one of operation MFwaDD was complete. He… hadn’t actually planned past that. What did you do with detectives when you weren’t pranking or running away from them, anyway?

 

Conan stopped midstep as his phone went off. A quick check revealed it to be KID again. He waved the Shonen Tantei on with a promise that he’d catch up in a moment and answered the call. “KID,” he said, tone clearly conveying the sentiment of ‘this better be good.’

He wasn’t expecting the somewhat frantic response. “Tantei-kun, how do you spend time outside of heists?”

Conan took a moment for that to register. Then another to figure out why KID was asking. “I don’t think Hakuba enjoys soccer much, or would want to hang out with a bunch of grade schoolers, and I doubt you want to look at cold cases or discuss Holmes trivia. Have you tried normal conversation?”

There was a pause. “That would be a good start, huh?” There was some muttering about how mefwad (?) was harder than he’d thought.

It was a struggle for Conan not to roll his eyes, but he managed. KID would know somehow if he did. He was sure of it. “Yes it would. Go do that, I have to go hang out with a bunch of grade schoolers.” He hung up without waiting for a reply. Something told him if he’d stayed on the line, KID would have stayed on and agonized rather than just going to talk to the other detective.

…Why was he helping the very obviously extroverted magician with his social life, anyway? His wasn’t exactly the best track record as social interactions go. Then again, maybe KID just didn’t have anyone better to ask.

He shook off the rather depressing thought and hurried to catch up with the other kids. Ai turned and smiled her evil little smile as he approached. “Who was that? Mouri-san?”

He debates fibbing, considers the hassle if she realizes he’s keeping a secret, weights that against his ability to lie or lack thereof, and shrugs. “Nah, just an idiot thief who can’t manage his own social life.”

She manages an incredulous stare. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“I wish.”

“Wait… if you have his phone number, why haven’t you turned him in to the police?” She eyed him suspiciously. “I’d question whether it really was him, but you would have pretended it was Mouri-san if you were concealing the caller’s identity, and you don’t sound like you’re lying.”

Conan glanced forward, making sure the others were busy singing a theme song (at least it sounded like a theme song to something), before pulling out the phone and opening his contacts. “I don’t think it would help them much if I showed them this, even if they believed it wasn’t just a prank.”

Ai examined the series of pound signs. Her lips quirked into a wry smile. “Of course. He would be cautious enough to avoid leaving connections that could be traced. Most likely it will turn out to be a burner phone even if you somehow trace it.”

Conan eyed her warily. “You aren’t upset with me for talking to him?”

“Not especially. Should I be?”

“Well, no, but…” He hesitated briefly before plowing on. “I thought you’d get upset about the security breach.”

She looked at him with an unreadable expression for several long moments, long enough that he squirmed a bit under her gaze. “KID has helped us both in the past, and he stays true to his stated code of preventing serious harm to others. I trust him to continue doing so, and I trust your judgement to catch if he strays to the path of truly criminal behavior. I may not feel that way in the future if my conclusion turns out to be wrong.”

Conan let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Right. Thanks, I guess.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for.”

“Hey! Conan, Haibara, what’s taking so long?” Genta called.

The two non-children realized with a start that they’d slowed during their conversation, falling almost half a block behind the others. They hurried to catch up, Conan already wincing at the jealousy and hurt on Mitsuhiko and Ayumi’s faces. This would be fun. Not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone wondering: no, I'm not posting in my ficlet collection today. Ran out of day. I'll definitely be posting tomorrow though.


	7. Tangled Webs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> KID plans a heist, Heiji shows up again, Hakuba has issues, and everyone panics a bit. With good reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that got really long, really fast. For the record, I'd meant to have each of the Gosho boys get their own POV section. Didn't work out that way. If anyone's too upset about not getting their dose of Conan POV, just share. I've got the last scene from his side as well. (Chunks of it are identical, but there's a section that is completely his own. You'll be able to guess which part I'm sure.)
> 
> Also, fair warning: I can't write action scenes for the life of me. NaNo-style is my usual writing style, basically write as fast as I can and edit later, but that just doesn't work for action scenes. They require careful planning and consideration, and if I do that I can't distance myself for editing. So, yeah. If that part sucks, that's why.
> 
> I like villain characters a lot. It's fun exploring their motivations (though I've accidentally converted a few of my own characters from villains to neutral doing that. not an issue here I assure you). I even have a story revolving around a villain who I felt was underexplored, though there's more to it than that.
> 
> One last thing: there's a line from Ran and what she thinks that you'll probably misunderstand. There's two things she might think, and both are correct answers. One's more obvious than the other though.
> 
> And with that, enjoy the story!

_On the day Nike’s champions came to Tokyo_

_An hour ringing across the year_

_Just as they sought fortune’s blessing_

_I seek the Lucky Band_

 

“I hope he checked in with you before sending the notice,” Conan said, tone somewhere between amused and irritated.

Hakuba was right with him on that. “He did. I advised against too much strenuous activity, but I suppose we’ll have to wait and see how active he is.”

“If he does any one-handed handstands with his bad arm, I’m darting him, injured or not. Actually, I’ll dart him _because_ he’s injured.”

“Would you, though?”

A pause, then a sigh from the other side of the phone. “Of course not. That’s nothing like fair play. Won’t stop me from yelling at him, though.”

“Agreed. Thoughts on the note?”

Clicking in the background, presumably from a computer mouse. “It’s kind of a mess, but. Olympics 1964.”

“October 10. As for the time…”

“8:04 PM. HH:MM format of the year, convert the extra minutes to another hour. Does the third line mean anything to you?”

“It most likely refers to the Aventurine in the Lucky Band. Aventurine means luck, among other things. Will you be able to make the heist? It is a school night.”

“I’ll ask. Ran-neechan!” His voice faded a little as he turned away. “Can I go to the KID heist next week?”

Hakuba looked up the Lucky Band while he waited. He heard a voice pitched in a question, but the actual words were unclear. Conan sighed. “Do you have a location yet? Ran doesn’t want me staying up late on a school night, so unless it’s local…”

Hakuba frowned at the page on his computer. “I’m afraid it’s at a museum near Ekoda rather than Beika. Perhaps she would allow it if I offered to take you home? It would give you the opportunity to sleep earlier, and I often miss school after a heist so I could drop you off in the morning.”

“I’ll ask,” he said, a little more hopeful than he’d been a moment ago. Muffled voices came across the line. “She wants to talk to you.”

“Alright. I’ll see what I can do.”

There were some odd noises as the phone changed hands. “Hello?”

“Mouri-san. You wished to speak with me?”

“Well, yes. I…” She hesitated, then continued in a softer tone. “You shouldn’t have to cater to everything he asks, you know. You can say no. I understand not wanting to refuse a child’s request, but it’s better not to spoil him. And it’s not fair to ask you to care for him all the time.”

Ah, so that was the issue. “It’s no trouble, really. Besides, I think KID’s heists are good for him.”

“How so?”

“It’s the only setting where I’ve seen him act his age.”

“That’s true. But I’m not sure how safe it is. After that heist a while back, they found several other reports of gunshots near or during KID heists. With him getting in the thick of things, Conan-kun could be-!”

“KID won’t let anything happen to him.” Hakuba kept his tone firm. Regardless of how little he understood other factors, whether they be age or the strange relationship growing between the three of them, he was sure of that much. “I’d stake my own life on that. So would most of the task force.”

There was a long pause. Hakuba heard a faint sniff in the background. “You’re right, I think. About acting his age. I… sometimes I think he… before…” Another pause, and a trumpet-like noise. “Sorry. If he does go… will you keep an eye on him?”

“Of course.” Not for quite the reasons she intended, but he would most certainly do so.

“…Alright. We can try, and see how it goes this once. I’m passing the phone back to Conan now. Text me the details – you still have my number, right?”

“I do. I’ll let you know when I plan to pick him up. Goodbye, Mouri-san.”

Shuffling, then- “So she said yes?”

“With the implication that it may be an option in the future, if all goes well.”

“Great. Cover your ears or move the phone away for a sec.”

Hakuba did both. Even with those precautions, he could make out the childish exclamations of glee, a pause, and a yelled “Sorry, Ran-neechan!” before Edogawa returned to a normal volume. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s quite alright. You did warn me, after all. I assume you heard what was said despite her precautions?”

“I did.”

Hakuba felt for him – it must be wearing, acting so far below your true maturity level all the time – but knew that any expression of sympathy would be unwelcome. “In that case, would you like to discuss our plans?”

“Actually, I should probably warn you about something. You-know-who too, but I have you on the phone right now.”

“Oh?”

“Hattori’s probably gonna want to ask KID’s intentions toward me.”

“…I hope he does so in those words.”

They had to postpone their planning session for another day. The spontaneous giggle fits were not at all conducive to productivity.

 

“So please, at least try to get along, if only so you don’t end up strung up by your underwear in the rafters,” Kudo finished.

Heiji rolled his eyes. “It’s not my first heist, Ku-onan.” Hey, he was getting better about fixing his frequent slipups. That had to count for something. Though, judging by the look Kudo levelled at him, it still wasn’t good enough. He sighed internally.

“Edogawa-kun,” Hakuba said, having located his partner in KID-chasing and now striding purposefully toward them. “I see you were right about your companion.”

Heiji frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean? You been spreading rumors, Kud-onan?” Nailed it.

“Only the truth,” Kudo said. “That you wanted to ask KID about the stuff that happened at the Maiden’s Heart heist. How are preparations?”

Hakuba grimaced. “Just fine, for the most part, though there is a particular detail that I am none too pleased about.” He nodded toward several people gathered around the evening’s target, Nakamori and a messy-haired teenager just visible through the crowd.

Kudo looked over and went still. “Isn’t that your classmate? I know he’s a KID fan, but why is he in here?”

“Kuroba-kun is also a magician, so Nakamori-keibu sometimes consults with him on how KID might react to the security. He’s usually correct, too, not that it helps much in the end.”

“I’ll bet,” Kudo said, somewhere between horror and amusement.

Heiji wondered at the reaction, but decided not to comment. Sometimes it was best to let things lie. Especially when it had anything to do with KID.

In the meantime, the teen had apparently sensed them talking about him, because he was looking their way. He broke into a wide smile and said something to Nakamori before bounding over to them. “Is there a detective convention I didn’t hear about?” he asked cheerfully.

“Hardly,” Hakuba said in the driest tone Heiji had ever heard from him. “Seeing as every gathering of detectives in the past few years has resulted in someone dying, particularly when Hattori or Edogawa are involved, I would rather keep it to ‘several detectives gathering for a KID heist’ than any sort of organized event.”

He went pale. “Point taken. Though, it seems a little far to come from Osaka.” He gave Heiji a curious look.

“Heiji-niichan wanted to talk to KID cause he said something mean last heist,” Kudo said before Heiji could formulate a response (and possibly stick his foot in his mouth again).

Several emotions passed over the teen’s face before he settled in a puzzled smile. “Okay then. Anyway, I’m Kuroba Kaito, magician. Though I’m guessing these two already mentioned that.”

Heiji nodded. “Hattori Heiji, detective. Which you already knew, judging from your comment about Osaka.”

“Yeah, well, I keep track of people who chase KID. Bit of a fan.”

Kudo suddenly suffered a severe coughing fit. Hakuba looked slightly pained. Heiji looked at them askance - it wasn’t that bad, was it? Lots of people were KID fans - before smiling at Kuroba. “Makes sense. So, all-knowing consultant, any thoughts on the heist preparations?”

“Nothing Nakamori-keibu hasn’t already thought of. Though I do have notes from one of my classmates to pass out. She does fortunes, among other things. Said to give them to…” He pulled out a paper and read what was on it. “The detective from distant lands, and the stuck-up British idiot.”

Hakuba didn’t so much as blink. “The real titles, Kuroba-kun?”

Kuroba rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine, you’re no fun. Detective from distant lands is probably you, since the other’s for the detective of fighting spirit. She said the one in death’s shadow wouldn’t pay attention to something as unscientific as a fortune, so she wouldn’t waste her time.”

Hakuba took the proffered paper. “Tell Koizumi-san I appreciate her kindness.”

Hattori likewise took his paper and looked at the contents.

_Though this web be spun of trickery and lies_

_Fore its jaws lie concealed truths_

…Huh. Weird.

Kudo looked at the both of them and opened his mouth – no doubt to say something scathing about their faith in magic – but was interrupted by Kuroba scooping him up and carrying him away. “By the way, I need to show you something before the heist starts. It’s right over here.”

Hattori raised a brow at the display, then turned reluctantly to Hakuba. Unpleasant as he was, the stuck-up British idiot (and he was maybe too amused by that crack) would probably be able to answer his questions. And, well. He’d agreed to at least try and play nice. “Any idea what that’s about?”

“If I understood Kuroba’s motives most of the time, I would already have half the answers to the universe. That said, I do have a word of advice for you, though not related to Kuroba.”

Hattori eyed him warily. “Better not have anything to do with taking my time before rushing in.”

“Hardly. It has to do with Edogawa.”

Immediately he felt himself go tense. “If this is about me treating him his age-”

“If you would let me finish?” Hakuba’s glare was icy. Hattori subsided, but held onto his glower just in case. “Thank you. I simply wanted to suggest you watch your, ah, _nicknames_ more carefully. He isn’t the best actor, and does not need outside forces offering clues. Next time the one who puts those clues together may not be on his side.”

Hattori was still processing (but that meant he knew? But how long had he known???) when Conan came running back, bright child’s grin firmly in place. “Kaito-niichan showed me something really neat and said to tell you about it!”

Hakuba’s expression went wary, which made sense considering Kudo hadn’t been pulling the kid act earlier. “Oh? And what might that be?”

“A really long gold hair. _Really_ long. It’s like from that old story, Rapunzel, where she uses her hair like a rope. Kaito-niichan said it reminded him of a spider’s silk.”

Heiji wasn’t sure what that meant, but if it made Hakuba go that pale, it sure wasn’t anything good.

 

“Tell me again why, if you’re worried about an uninvited guest showing up – which I’d still like an explanation for, thanks – you decided to leave the most likely hostage target with your classmate.”

“Trust me,” Hakuba bit out, keeping his awareness on his surroundings instead of the Osakan pest. “Edogawa is as safe as he possibly can be so long as he stays with Kuroba.”

“For someone you don’t seem to get along with, you’ve got an awful lot of faith in him.”

Did he? No, he’d had this argument with himself, he was – not past it, exactly, but he was handling it. “Our relationship is complicated. As much as we don’t get along at times, Kuroba is one of the most reliable people I know. I would be willing place my life in his hands if it came to it.” He paused. “Though I wouldn’t if I could help it. He has enough on his shoulders as it is.”

Hattori glanced back, puzzled, then shrugged and leaned on the banister for a moment. They were on the upper balcony of the room, officially keeping an eye out for KID. Unofficially they were watching for any sign of what Spider might be planning. Not that Hakuba expected it to do much good. But perhaps it could keep the assassin’s attention away from the ‘child’ whose sharp eyes glinted with intelligence beyond his apparent years.

(In all honesty, Kudo really was a terrible actor. Commendable in one who exposed hidden truths, surprising in a child of such a brilliant actress, and potentially disastrous in the life he led.)

Hakuba wasn’t yet sure what had caused his degeneration, but considering he hadn’t told anyone in authority… it didn’t look good. And with the knowledge that Kuroba no longer felt it necessary to keep the not-child out of his sniper related issues, Hakuba was more certain than ever that Kudo could not afford Spider’s attention.

“So are you gonna tell me what I should expect, or am I winging it? Cause I can do that if I have to.”

Hakuba broke off his thoughts (just as well, he was getting distracted again) to glare at Hattori. “Did you not listen the first time?”

“I did,” Hattori drawled, tone casual but eyes piercing. “You said some guy named Spider shows up to heists once in a while and sent Conan to stay with Kuroba ‘as long as possible.’” He did air quotes around those last words before letting his arms cross over his chest. “Not exactly the most informative thing I’ve heard you say. Gonna explain what has you this unsettled, or do I have to deduce?”

Damn. He really was off his game, wasn’t he. He took a deep breath to calm himself. It wasn’t Hattori’s fault this time, even if he was still being his usual infuriating self, and taking the stress out on him wouldn’t help. “It’s nothing. There have been some… complications in my life lately that led to a state of elevated stress.”

Hattori’s face was unreadable, eyes still sharp enough to pierce through flesh to the center of his soul. Or so it felt, anyway. Hakuba would suspect him of deducing something if not for the convenient cue of his cap. Still backward, so no deductions. “Have you talked to anyone about it?”

Hakuba somehow held back the bubble of hysterical laughter. Sure, tell someone about how he couldn’t handle KID and Edogawa’s unspoken offers of friendship not because of the legal or moral aspects, but because he didn’t know how to handle relationships that didn’t include some ulterior motive. Just because he had analyzed his emotions enough to understand where his hangups were, didn’t mean he knew what to do about them.

Hattori was looking at him with a very strange expression. “Uh. How much of that did you mean to say out loud?”

Oh. That explained it. “…I don’t suppose you could pretend you didn’t hear that?”

“Actually-”

It was at that moment, of course, that the lights went out. While the near-perfect darkness obscured most of the hall, Hakuba could just barely make out Hattori’s eyes going wide in the dim red glow coming from behind him.

 

Kaito kept the heist simple. In, gem, out. No time for fancy games when Spider was most likely the one who caused that blackout. It hadn’t been him anyway. And they hadn’t heard from Hakuba or Hattori since they split up. Overall, the situation was about ten kinds of not good and he was fighting down panic.

He found Conan in the darkness and scooped him up, hissing “ _Just me_ ” in his ear when he felt the small form tense. He relaxed again instantly and allowed KID to carry him to a roof outside.

He looked Conan over carefully, feeling the detective do the same, using what illumination the moon provided to assure themselves that yes, they were both okay. After a moment’s tense scrutiny, they exchanged a nod and stepped back a bit.

“We need to find them as soon as possible,” Conan said.

KID nodded, for once not smiling at all. He pulled out an object and pressed it into Conan’s hands. “Here.”

Conan looked at the full water gun, then at KID. “Who am I aiming at?” He didn’t even question it; he was perfectly aware that KID wouldn’t joke in such a serious situation.

“Anyone caught in his spell. Hakuba broke me out of it using a fire hose the first time I faced him.”

“Right. Ideas for finding-?”

“Tracker on their collars. They’re southwest of here.” In the shadows. Which meant they could vanish easier, but so could their enemy.

A nod. KID scooped him up again and took off running across the roofs.

They spotted them from a distance away, one shadowy figure leaning against a vent shaft and another sprawled on the ground. KID felt Conan’s hand clench tighter in his jacket. His own grip tightened on the detective’s shirt. They slowed and took shelter behind a moderately sized structure, out of sight should anyone be watching.

KID pointed at Conan’s shoes, then shook his head firmly. Conan inclined his head the slightest bit; don’t use the shoes. The sparks would give him away. KID tilted his hat back so he could peer around the structure’s edge without giving himself away, then leaned back and indicated with a series of gestures that this had happened before, and to let him take the lead, before darting out of their cover.

He faintly registered the red glow out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t have time to focus on it; his attention was on the needle flung his way by the upright form. Still too dark to see who was who, but not so dark he couldn’t dodge the projectile.

He dove and caught – Hakuba, it was Hakuba, not that it should matter – around the midsection, pinning his arms at his sides with one arm while digging in his own pockets with the other. _Please let this work_ , he thought desperately as Hakuba struggled, _Akako just woke up on her own what if he doesn’t_ -

Hakuba went limp all at once, head lolling back on Kaito’s shoulder. The magician barely managed to adjust his grip before dropping the suddenly deadweight detective. Then he seemed to return to himself all at once, tensing and pulling away.

KID let him. He wasn’t sure how to act at the moment; Akako hadn’t seemed upset about anything other than having fallen for the trick, but then again she’d already tried to kill him of her own volition.

A quick scan of the area turned up no signs of Spider, so he turned to where Hattori was still sprawled on the ground, looking more like he was asleep than hypnotized. Still, no such thing as too careful; he approached cautiously and knelt beside the prone form, breathing a sigh of relief when he didn’t seem to react. “Tantei-han, wake up.”

Hattori sat up all at once, bashing their heads together.

Kaito yelped and pulled back, clutching his head. Hattori conveyed much the same sentiment with an emphatic curse. Noted, this detective woke up very quickly. Ow.

He was too busy being in pain to register Conan’s approach. Hakuba, standing a few feet away, was not. “Edogawa-kun. Did you see where-?”

“Vanished. I hit him with a squirt gun and he just… left.” His tone was confused and a little embarrassed. Which. Made sense, considering how weird that sounded. But tantei-kun wasn’t one to tell tales, so it must have happened.

“I see.” There was something in Hakuba’s tone, and the way he wouldn’t look at any of them, that was extremely concerning. “It would probably be best if we went home and rested after that ordeal. I assume you still plan to retire to my house.”

“Better idea,” Heiji called, finally recovering from his mild head injury. “Let’s all meet somewhere – your house would work, or my hotel room if that’s better – and get on the same page. Because something tells me we are not at all on the same page.”

On the same page? Okay, clearly he was missing something here.

“Is this about what I said before the blackout? I asked you to-”

“Pretend I didn’t hear it. That’s a no, but not what I meant.” Heiji sat up and glared at him, apparently not caring that the effect was lost on someone looking away. “I meant what you said that I’m not saying out here.”

Hakuba’s gaze flicked toward Conan. KID could see the small detective put together the clues at the same moment he did. Hakuba _knew_. “How long?” the thief managed.

“...Shortly after the Maiden’s Heart heist. You weren’t exactly subtle.”

 “Ah.” he winced. “Well then. Your house, I assume?”

“Only if you have something else to wear.”

There was a long pause. Now wasn’t exactly the best time, but… “Alright, how many times over would I die if I suggested borrowing Kudo Shinichi’s face right now?”

Conan buried his face in his hands and giggled helplessly. Well that was the most important vote anyway. Insta-disguise it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone gets upset at where this ends, originally I planned to stop at the end of the third scene. So please don't hurt me.


	8. Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone finally talks things out. Lots of things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for poor self care as a horrible coping mechanism. Guys stop. 
> 
> New record for longest chapter, whee. I'm still not happy with the last scene, but oh well. I'll say something in the next chapter if I end up scrapping it and rewriting it entirely. (I probably won't, but right now it still feels kind of eh.) Also, all opinions expressed by characters may or may not be my own. Just so you know.  
> (anyone familiar with my use of names to indicate views from the POV character to themselves or another character can use it in the last scene to realize the irony of the situation. I like subtlety too much sometimes.)
> 
> In case it wasn't obvious, I'm not posting a ficlet today. Probably won't for the other days that fall on WtNE post days. I apologize, but there just isn't time in one day to finish and edit a chapter of this, plus writing and editing a ficlet. -u-
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

There was, Conan mused, something distinctly odd about watching himself take a long sip of hot chocolate before heaving a satisfied sigh. It was as much his personal distaste for the beverage (way too sweet) as the image of himself doing it; after hanging around KID for so long, he’d gotten used to seeing ‘himself’ doing things.

Hakuba returned with a tray of coffees. “It’s decaf,” he said, giving Conan an apologetic look. “You do need to sleep, if you want Mouri-san to allow this arrangement again.”

“As long as it’s not ‘so I won’t stunt my growth,’” he muttered, taking the cup grudgingly. A hot beverage sounded like a great idea at the moment. Even if he would have preferred something caffeinated.

“Which brings up the first order of business,” KID said, cheerful as anything. “If I’m correct, nobody in this room would be fooled if I used this disguise. Right?”

Hakuba winced. “No. I apologize for not mentioning it earlier, but I was unsure when would be best to share. It hardly seemed the sort of thing to mention in any company.”

“Truly a master of discretion,” KID murmured, eyes sliding to Hattori. “Some could stand to learn from your example.”

Hattori tensed and placed his cup very carefully on the table. “Exactly what does that mean?”

KID smiled politely. “Tantei-han, if you want to lie believably, you can’t act. You have to live. Your thoughts must match what you want others to believe, or you’ll end up exposing the lie. You think of him as Kudo Shinichi, you call him that as well.” He paused. “On an entirely unrelated note, a little bird mentioned you have something to tell me.”

“How-?” He shook his head. “Never mind. Of course you had some kind of listening device, ya bastard.”

KID blinked, then gave Conan a quizzical look. Conan shrugged. “If he can’t spot your methods, I’m not gonna point them out. It’s his problem.”

“Oi, I thought we were on the same side.”

“We are. But he was listening, remember?”

KID’s apparent confusion faded into something more relaxed, and Conan knew the message had been received. _I’m not telling him that was you._

Though he wouldn’t hinder his friend’s investigations, he and Hakuba had advantages in figuring these things out. Hattori wouldn’t put the clues together any time soon without outside forces.

“Anyway,” Hattori said with a frustrated sigh, “I’m not gonna deal with that just yet. I’d rather have that conversation in private.”

“I confess that is a bit concerning.”

“Nothing bad!” he said quickly, eyes going wide. “I just don’t want Conan listening in.” Pause. “Oh yeah, I can actually call him Kudo here.”

KID facepalmed and muttered something about mindset training. Conan wasn’t sure he wanted to know. “ANYWAY,” he said loudly, “I’m guessing we should go over how we reached this situation, since nobody has the full story right now.”

Hattori blinked. “But it’s your story, weren’t you there the whole time?”

“Our story,” KID corrected. “We haven’t had a chance to exchange details in person, and some things shouldn't be said over the phone.” Hattori stared at him. “Is something wrong?”

“No, just… I can’t picture you doing anything for caution’s sake.”

KID’s grin widened. “Why thank you tantei-han! That might just be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Hattori looked vaguely creeped out. “Right.”

Conan sighed and turned to Hakuba. “Why don’t I start?” He recapped the events of that night at Tropical Land as quickly and clinically as he could, pushing down the emotions that always came up when he remembered that _he couldn’t come back, even if Ai made an antidote it was still too dangerous for Kudo Shinichi to come back-_

KID’s shoe bumped his, startling him out of his thoughts. He noticed the concerned looks aimed at him and managed a tremulous smile. “Ah, sorry, where was I?”

“Kudo…” Hattori’s expression held something Conan refused to identify; he wasn’t sure if he could handle it.

“Why don’t you tell us what you know about that organization?” KID suggested, tone perfectly neutral.

Conan shot him a grateful look before continuing. He outlined the various members he knew, the groups working against the Black Org that knew of him, his relationship with Vermouth, everything he could think of. Though he left out the finer details about his ‘contact’ who knew about the shrinking. Not that he thought KID was fooled; he’d met Ai, after all. But there was no need to out her to Hakuba.

“What I don’t understand,” Hakuba said when he finished, “is why the side effect of a supposedly untraceable poison is shrinking.”

Conan shrugged. “It wasn't supposed to be a poison. I'm not sure what it was meant to be, but I have some guesses.” He glanced at KID. The thief tilted his head, considering. “But before we get to that, what made you consider-”

“Immortality,” the thief said, utterly toneless. “That’s why you realized our organizations are the same. Right?”

Conan frowned at the interruption. “Yes, but I wanted to know how Hakuba ever connected Edogawa Conan to Kudo Shinichi.” He wondered why KID looked faintly uneasy. He’d been as shocked as the rest of them, so it wasn’t like he’d been involved. (After what they’d gone through moments before, he figured even KID would have been hard pressed to act convincingly.)

Hakuba hesitated. “It’s a mix of factors, I suppose. To begin with my ability to suspend disbelief has been honed by constant exposure to KID.” The thief snickered. Hakuba shot him a look. “The immortality comment from KID’s pursuer also made me wonder. It seemed like that wasn’t an unfamiliar concept to you, which was odd in someone who appears so young. Death is hard enough to grasp on its own, not that you have any trouble. Considering your generally unchildlike behavior and Hattori-kun’s frequent slipups, as well as some research of my own, it wasn't a hard connection to make.”

“Research?” Hattori looked skeptical. “What kind of research would that be?”

Hakuba glanced sideways at KID. “The details hardly matter. You already know the end result.”

That’s when it clicked. Whatever Hakuba had done to find out about him was the same technique he’d used to find KID’s civilian identity. No wonder the thief had been trying to avoid the subject.

Hattori noticed the look as well, but he seemed to read it as ‘not in front of the thief’ if his shrug and apparent acceptance of the statement was anything to go by. “Alright then. What’s this about immortality? Kudo mentioned something about that after that one heist.”

KID nodded. “It seems to be the main connection between our enemies. His have a poison that grants age reduction in a select few. Mine are seeking a gemstone said to grant immortality if you drink its tears.”

“...You’re kidding, right?”

Conan had to agree with Hattori. Talk about blood from a stone. He might be a little more open to illogical situations these days, but that was a bit much.

“It hardly matters if it’s true,” Hakuba pointed out, “considering that they seem perfectly willing to resort to murder if it gets them what they want. The snipers are proof enough of that.”

KID bowed his head. “They’re definitely willing to kill,” he said in a perfectly emotionless tone.

Hakuba winced. “My apologies. I was trying to be vague, not…”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, voice tight. “I’ll stop them, and they’ll pay for what they’ve taken.”

“ _We’ll_ stop them,” Conan corrected. KID met his eyes for a moment, then looked away and managed a tiny nod.

Hattori looked at everyone, taking in the somber mood. “Now isn’t the best time to ask for details about the whole Spider thing, is it?”

Everyone else tensed. He winced. “Yeah, next time I’ll keep my big mouth shut.”

“No,” KID said softly, “now’s as good a time as any. The dead won’t be any less dead later.” He straightened, smiling as though the moment of fragility never happened. If he hadn't known better Conan might have bought it. “I’d also like to know why he left so easily. Spider has a habit of playing with his targets, but I’ve never known him to let go so easily.”

Conan shrugged, feeling uncertain. “I barely know what happened myself. KID ran toward you two, I saw something glowing red, and I was terrified. Next thing I know I’m standing next to him with a squirt gun aimed at his face. He looked at me, smiled a little bit, and vanished. It was… bizarre.”

Hakuba frowned, clearly worried. “Spider isn’t one to do things for no reason. I hate to even consider it, but… he may have decided you’re interesting enough to spare, at least for now.”

Great. Like he needed another wacko who found him ‘interesting.’ (Interesting wasn’t exactly the word, but the point stood.) “It makes sense at least. In a twisted, horrible way.”

“Another for your collection?” Hattori said, a feeble attempt at humor. Nobody laughed. He grimaced. “Tough crowd. Any case, do we have any more earth-shattering revelations? If you do, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Hakuba glowered at him. “Now is hardly the time for jokes.”

“I was serious about that!” He glared right back, then huffed and flopped against the back of the couch, arms crossed angrily. “Last time I try to lighten a mood around Sir Serious Business.”

KID raised his hand like a timid schoolboy, almost hesitant. “If I may? Not that it’s earth-shattering, at least I hope not, but I feel it’s worth saying. Actions taken under hypnotic influence can’t be blamed on the hypnotized party.”

Conan and Hattori blinked at him. “Well, yeah,” Hattori said, unfolding from his angry lump. “I’d think that’s pretty obvious.”

“He thinks I might not have realized that,” Hakuba explained, tone carefully blank. “While I appreciate your concern, any deviations in my behavior are not due to the attempted homicide. Keep in mind I’ve chased Spider longer than you; I know better than that.”

KID relaxed. “Oh. Good.”

Hattori, on the other hand, was looking at Hakuba with a peculiar expression. “If this is you acting strange, what’s you acting normal?” Hakuba glared at him. He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Just saying. Now, if we've got all that sorted out, what say me and Hakuba leave you two to have a chat?”

KID flinched, head jerking to face him. “W-what?”

Conan realized what Hattori was doing at about the same moment. And it wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the opportunity, but… “Will you two end up knocking the house down in some spectacular fashion while we’re not with you?”

Hattori’s grin morphed into a scowl. “Seriously, Kudo? Have a _little_ faith at least.”

“I will if you give me reason.”

“Hmph. I bet we can find something to talk about without pointless arguing. Right, Hakuba?”

“Er…”

Interestingly enough, Hakuba looked about as enthused as KID with the prospect. Which… was somewhat concerning, considering why Conan suspected KID didn’t want to split up. Then Hattori gave him a look. It wasn’t clear what was meant by that look, but it was enough to convince him that this was important. He shrugged. “If you say so. And we do need to talk.”

KID looked at him and nodded reluctantly, still obviously tense. “Okay.”

Which of course left Hakuba outnumbered. He looked at each of the others and sighed. “Alright then. Neither of you do anything to destroy my house either.” The warning was aimed at both of them, but his glare was all for KID. The thief just smirked. (It almost fooled Conan into forgetting how uncomfortable he’d looked a moment earlier. Not.)

“Right then,” Hattori said, cheerful as when he planned to drag Conan off on another case regardless of what he thought. Which seemed all the more fitting when he grabbed Hakuba’s arm and dragged him out of the room.

The door shut behind them, and Conan turned to meet KID’s gaze. The thief quickly broke eye contact to intensely examine a patch of wall.

Conan resisted the urge to sigh. This would be fun.

 

Hattori released his grip on Hakuba’s arm once the door closed, letting him lead the way. Hakuba hesitated for a moment before leading him to what looked like a study and closing the door. “Well?” he asked, tone weary. “I know you’re not one to beat around the bush, so please don’t start now.”

Hattori gave him a long, considering look before speaking. “You know Kazuha, right?”

Hakuba blinked. That… was not what he’d expected. “I know of her, at least. Your childhood friend, right?”

“Yep. Daughter of a police officer, son of the chief of police, seemed reasonable that we’d get along.” His lips quirked into a slight smile. “For certain values of getting along.”

Yes, he’d heard about their… interactions. “Your point?”

“Getting there. You’ve met me a few times by now. How many close friends do you think I have?”

Hakuba opened his mouth, ready with a retort about his no doubt endless flocks of groupies, then paused and actually thought about the question. _Close_ friends, specifically; not just anyone. “I couldn’t say for sure, but… I only know of two with certainty.” Those two were, of course, Kudo and the girl he’d just mentioned.

“Neechan is on that list too,” he said, “but otherwise? Pretty much.” His smile fell, and he looked a bit grim. “People like us don’t build relationships easy, not the kind that matter. I get that. But are you seriously going to give up because you don’t know how to do this?”

“I never said-”

“You didn’t have to!” he snapped, wincing at his own volume and stealing a quick look at the door.

Which was smart, but… “The walls of this room are virtually soundproof. For private discussions and the like. I suspected we might need to contain noise, knowing how our interactions usually go.”

Hattori smiled, though it was more a twist of the lips than anything. “Figures. We’re all brilliant at reading people, but we don’t know the first thing about dealing with people on a personal level.”

Hakuba stifled a snort, which got him a surprised but pleased look from Hattori. He shrugged. “I can have a sense of humor.”

“Can’t pretend I’m not surprised, but that’s a relief.”

“Really.”

“Yup.” Hattori grinned. “If we’re gonna be hanging out more, I’m happy to hear you’re not a complete slave to the stick up your rear.”

Hakuba gaped at him, unsure whether to question the first part or protest the second. Fortunately Hattori made the decision for him. “Don’t tell me you forgot how often I come to visit. If you’re hanging with Kudo too, we’re bound to run into each other sometimes.”

He said it as though it was a given that Hakuba would be spending time with the shrunken detective. Hakuba couldn’t find a reason to disagree that wouldn’t be shot down instantly. “I hope you’re aware that this applies to a certain thief as well.”

Hattori grimaced. “Yeah, well. Dunno what Kudo sees in him, but I’m willing to take a leap of faith and deal. ‘Swhat friends do.”

“Is it?” He wouldn’t know.

“Yep. Now come on, your _friends_ out there probably need some moral support.” He grinned at Hakuba as he emphasized the word.

Hakuba felt a little like grinning himself. He managed a polite smile instead. “Alright then.”

 

There was a long, tense silence after Hattori and Hakuba left, during which KID steadfastly avoided Shinichi’s eye. The detective was, to be perfectly frank, completely and utterly done with this. At least before KID had been subtle about his discomfort. Not that Shinichi wanted him to hide his emotions like that, but this was completely useless in terms of actually solving the problem.

 “So are you going to say something, or do I have to?” he finally asked.

KID visibly flinched. “I- that is- if you want to?”

That… was not promising. “I was trying to offer you the choice.”

Another pause. “You don’t have to, you know. Talk to me. I’d understand if you said you were… that you didn’t want to.”

“Would you believe me if I said I wasn’t mad?”

“…”

He once again resisted the urge to sigh. Then paused and really looked at the thief for the first time that evening. “When’s the last time you slept?”

“Yesterday night.”

The reply sounded suspiciously automatic. “Uh huh. And how long did you sleep?”

KID shrugged. “Dunno. Few hours? I always get some sleep before a heist, but not much. Too much prep work to be done. Besides, I need less sleep than most people to begin with.”

“Isn’t that just wonderful for you,” he muttered. “So when’s the last time you got a full night’s sleep by your standards?”

The pause that followed was far longer than Shinichi was comfortable with. “Is this really just overwork before a heist? Because if it is, I’m surprised you haven’t burned out already.”

KID muttered something about doing better. And that was the key that Shinichi needed to connect the clues he’d already collected. Not that he would speak his realizations out loud; something told him KID would only draw tighter into his shell if he tried. Which would be even worse than usual. While Shinichi had some idea, however minimal, of how to deal with his stupid poker face, this anxious flinching thief was practically a stranger to him.

So he skirted the topic, for the moment anyway. “Have you at least been eating? And no, energy bars don’t count, no matter how nutritious. Trust me on this one.” He’d learned the hard way that subsisting purely on energy bars for over a week did not turn out well. Even if they were the caffeinated kind. (Especially because? Eh, who knew.)

He shrugged again. “I’ve been eating other things too. No time to cook though, if that’s what you mean.”

“So, microwave meals and takeout.” Better, but not much.

“I know better than to live entirely on energy bars. Once was enough, thanks.”

Shinichi debated whether it was more relieving or disturbing that KID shared that particular experience with him, then decided it wasn’t important at the moment. “KID, please tell me you realize that isn’t healthy long term. I know I’m being a hypocrite here, but even when I was living al-”

“Kaito.”

Blink. Blink. “What?”

KID shrugged. “Or Kuroba, I don’t care. But you know my real name. You ought to use it.”

That… Shinichi had hoped for him to say that, he couldn’t deny it, but it didn’t give him anything like the warm feeling he’d hoped for. Which made sense, considering…

“No.”

Now it was KID’s turn to blink at him. “No? But…”

“Not now.” Shinichi was careful to keep his tone and expression open, rather than pulling back like he wanted to. He wanted to accept KID’s offer, but right now… “You’re still upset about what happened. More than I am, even. Because I know that you were trying to keep me from getting hurt, just like you always do.” But all KID could see was that he’d hurt him anyway, when with the knowledge he had now it wouldn’t even have protected him. “You shouldn’t feel like you have to buy forgiveness. Especially not when I forgave you as soon as you explained.”

KID couldn’t seem to stop staring at him in open confusion. “That’s… Even though I…”

“It really wasn’t that bad,” he assured, voice soft. “It hurt, yeah, but now I understand why you said it. That doesn’t make it better, exactly. But you’re hurting yourself a lot more than saying that hurt me, and that’s not right either.”

“I’m not-” KID cut himself off, looking pained. “I should have made the connection sooner.”

Shinichi shrugged. “We all make mistakes. Mine shaved ten years off my life, from the wrong end. Yours eventually led to us figuring out those things you hadn’t realized. Things happen.” He paused for a beat. “And KID?”

“Yeah?”

He managed a faint smile. “Once you manage to forgive yourself… if you still want me to call you by your name… I’d be honored to have your confidence.”

KID summoned the energy to smile back. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do.”

Someone knocked on the door. “You two done in there or should we go find somewhere else to hang out?”

Shinichi looked at KID, got a small nod. “You can come in.”

Hattori swept in and flopped back into his place on the couch, followed more calmly by Hakuba. Shinichi was pleased to notice that Hakuba looked better than he had earlier, though he frowned slightly at the traces of tension in Hattori’s mostly relaxed stance.

The Osakan noticed the look and subtly shook his head. Not the time.

Alright then. “Hey, Hakuba,” Shinichi said, “if it’s not too much trouble, is there any chance we could get something to eat?”

The British detective blinked. “I’m sure I can find something, if you’re hungry.”

“Not for me. KID’s been living on microwave meals and takeout for a while.” Probably not enough of those, either, plus too little sleep. But one thing at a time.

KID gave him a betrayed look. “Tantei-kun…”

Hakuba, on the other hand, sat upright with a faint frown. “In that case, I’m sure we at least have some leftovers in the fridge. Give me a moment to check.” He quickly ducked out of the room.

Hattori looked at KID’s expression and snickered. “Might want to make any calls now. I’m guessing you’ll be pressed into a sleepover after food.”

KID glared at him, then stalked out of the room with all the dignity he could muster.

Shinichi tried not to think about the fact that he’d looked to be on the verge of some kind of breakdown only minutes before. Instead he turned to Hattori. “Everything okay?”

He waved him off with a smile that was bright enough for most people, but on Hattori looked just a bit flat. “M’fine. Had a chat with Hakuba, brought back some old memories.”

Ah. “Do you need to talk about it?” Since tonight seemed like a ‘talk it out’ sort of night.

“Nah, I’m good. I appreciate the offer though.” He offered a slightly more genuine smile, then sat up straight. “So I’m gonna curb my instincts to pry for details, ‘specially for you, but how are things between you two now?”

Shinichi grimaced. “In a word? Delicate.”

“Ah. Well, the offer to talk goes both ways, if it helps.”

That got a slight smile. It did, even if he wouldn’t be taking the offer. “Thanks Hattori.”

“Anytime.”


	9. Another Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Casual chatting occurs. Some things are said, others don't need to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I say anything else, someone tell me: what's a good way to link pictures? Because I sketched these guys in the first part of this chapter (initially for reference but then I couldn't stop :P) and would like to share if I had any idea how. :/
> 
> Next, and probably something that some of you are concerned about: no, this story is not ending here despite the chapter count. See the end notes for more details.
> 
> With that, enjoy the chapter!

Morning came, lining the curtains with light that couldn’t quite penetrate the thick fabric to interrupt the cozy dimness inside. For the second time in a month, Kaito woke up surrounded by people. This time, however, he managed to stay still. It was early, and it had been a stressful night. They could all use some more sleep. Including him, but he’d never been the best at going back to sleep after waking up.

Instead, he took stock of the situation as best he could without moving. They were currently sprawled in a pile of pillows and blankets on Hakuba’s living room floor. Hakuba had been quick to suggest it the night before.

“Baaya won't mind,” he’d assured them, dropping an armful of blankets on the growing pile, “and my parents aren't planning to be home today.”

Nobody had been inclined to argue (though Kaito managed some token grumbling), and they all went to sleep in a neat row.

Somehow during the night they'd ended up in more of a tangle. Hakuba was hugging a pillow, back pressed to Kaito’s side and holding one of his arms hostage. It was a little hard on his shoulder, but he couldn't bring himself to pull free. Conan lay flopped across Kaito and Hattori, with Kaito's stomach as a pillow. Sleeping peacefully like that, he actually looked his physical age for once. Hattori had one arm draped carelessly across Conan’s waist and his legs tangled with Kaito's. Plus he was laying on Kaito’s other arm.

Basically, there was no way he’d be getting up without waking someone, so he resigned himself to his terrible fate and closed his eyes. 

A quiet huff caught his attention, and he reopened his eyes to see Hattori looking back with an amused smile. The Osakan carefully detangled their legs without jostling Conan and lifted his head so Kaito could pull his arm free. Kaito shook his head, glancing down at Conan; there wasn’t anywhere better to put it. Hattori nodded and lay back down. 

Kaito shot him a questioning look. He could probably pull free, with only Conan on top of him. Hattori looked down at Conan again by way of reply. A closer look revealed that Conan was holding Hattori’s arm. His grip was loose, but enough that he’d probably notice if his hand was moved. Kaito smiled at the unconscious (literally) show of trust and relaxed again, feeling Hattori do the same next to him.

Which was when the alarm went off.

Conan jerked bolt upright, flinging Hattori’s arm off violently. He turned quickly at the pained yelp it caused, only relaxing when he realized where he was. “Sorry,” he muttered, watching the Osakan rub his shoulder and wince.

“It’s fine, Kudo. Could you get off my stomach though?”

He blinked, looking down and realizing where he was sitting. “Oh. Right.”

Hakuba yawned and tried to roll onto his back, plainly puzzled when he couldn’t. He glanced over his shoulder and stared. “Huh?”

Kaito nodded. “Sup.”

Hakuba looked at him, then turned slowly to where he still held Kaito’s arm. He finally let go and rolled away, flattening the pillow under his stomach on his way to his other side. Now facing the others, he blinked at them blearily. “Me and Edogawa need to prepare to leave. So he can get to school on time.”

“Else Ran won’t let me come to any heists without her supervision,” Conan said, sitting up properly and yawning. “Can I at least have some actual coffee? She doesn’t have to know.”

“If she notices the scent, it must have been my morning cup. Follow me. I can cook a decent breakfast if Baaya isn’t awake.”

The pair extracted themselves from the blanket pile and wandered toward the kitchen, leaving Hattori and Kaito on the floor by themselves.

“So,” Hattori said once they were out of earshot. “Can I talk to you now, or d’you need a chance to wake up?”

Kaito blinked at him, more alert than the other two but clearly less so than Hattori. “Uh. Depends on what you want to talk about.”

“You could probably guess. Kudo mentioned I wanted to talk to you, remember?”

Oh yeah. “About the Maiden’s Heart heist.”

“Right. At least that’s what I told him.”

A pause. Kaito sat up to look down at him. “Meaning you didn’t want him to know what you actually wanted to talk about.”

“Yep.” Hattori kept his eyes on the ceiling. “Before I tell you what I actually want to talk about… how likely is it that your disguise lasted the night? Or should I keep not looking at you?”

...Okay, that was a good point. “I’ll be right back,” he said, crawling over to retrieve his jacket. (He wasn’t going to sleep in it, that would just be asking to set something off by accident, and it was at least hidden. Never mind that Hakuba almost certainly knew about the secret panel. It was his living room after all.)

A couple minutes later, he once again resembled Kudo Shinichi more than Kuroba Kaito. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t have to be, and the slight differences distinguishing him from the actual Kudo were a plus for once.

“So,” he said, plopping down on the floor next to Hattori, who had taken the opportunity to pull on his shirt and pants from the day before. (Hakuba was too tall for any of his clothes to fit them, so they’d just spent the night in their underclothes. Conan, of course, had an overnight bag - packed himself, if the lack of childish cartoon characters on the T-shirt and shorts he’d changed into was anything to go by.) “What did you want to talk about?”

Hattori looked back, toward the kitchen, then leaned in close. “First off, I’m not gonna get on your case for what you said. Kudo said you apologized, and that you had a valid reason. That’s his call; I won’t go against it.”

Kaito released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. That was more of a relief than he’d expected.

“Second, and the thing I wanted to say.” He paused, actually hesitating for a moment.

Which was weird. If there was one thing Kaito knew for sure about Hattori Heiji, it was that he almost always rushed into things without thinking through the consequences. What would cause him to hesitate? “Something wrong?”

“What? No, I just.” He paused a moment more before taking on a determined look and nodding decisively. “Thanks for watching out for him.” 

His serious look softened a bit as Kaito blinked at him, baffled. “I know he can take care of himself, and it’s not like you’re around all the time any more than I am, but you’ve done a lot. I’d say it’s more than you could imagine, but something tells me he’s done the same for you.”

Kaito quirked a faint smile. “I suppose he has. And… you’re welcome. I can’t say it wasn’t at least partially self motivated, for reasons you’ve already mentioned, but it’s nice to hear anyway.”

Hattori shrugged. “Friendship is partly for yourself. That’s just how it works. But good friendships are mutually beneficial in the end.”

“Friendship, huh.” Kaito thought about it for a moment. That was his goal, obviously, but… He smiled again. “Yeah, I guess we are friends.”

That got him a quirked eyebrow. “Did you not realize that?”

He flushed a little. “I don’t exactly spend most of my time reevaluating my relationships.” He kind of did, but still. “We hardly started out as friends.”

Hattori’s grin made it clear exactly how much he believed that claim. “If you say so. Anyway, this might be weird, but.” He nodded toward the kitchen. “We’ve got a mutual friend who needs all the friendship he can get. What say we try being friends too?”

Kaito tilted his head to one side. “Only one?”

“...If you mean Hakuba, I really doubt you can call our relationship ‘friendship’. Definitely not in the traditional sense.”

“Tantei-han, I spend most of my time with our mutual friend either being chased by him or hunting down threats too large for either of us to handle alone. Traditional friendship is not the specialty of people like us.”

“Eh, true. Still not sure you can call us friends.”

Kaito resisted a smile. “If you say so.” He’d have to ‘borrow’ Hattori’s phone before they left. 

Hakuba poked his head back into the room. “We’re leaving now. If you want breakfast, there’s food on the counter. Make sure the door’s locked when you leave.” He paused to glare at Kaito. “By which I mean test that the door is closed, as they lock automatically, not whatever you’re thinking.”

Kaito’s grin didn’t diminish in the least. “If you say so.”

Hakuba ceased glaring when it became clear it wasn’t making a dent in that grin. “The house had better be standing when I come back. Regardless of if either of you are here or not. However, in case you aren’t, may I just say that it’s been a pleasure hosting you.”

Hattori and Kaito shared a look, then grinned. Hakuba eyed them warily. “I am extremely concerned right now.”

“Don’t be!” Kaito chirped, somehow jumping to Hakuba’s side faster than he could track and slinging an arm around his shoulders. “We were just thinking that’s an awfully cold way to see off such good friends, so…”

“Group hug!” Hattori finished with him as he joined their embrace.

Hakuba gave a good go at looking unimpressed, but it was obvious he was trying not to smile. “You two are ridiculous.”

A snort attracted Kaito’s attention to Kudo, watching from the doorway. He grinned and extended an arm. Kudo rolled his eyes, but didn’t resist as Kaito scooped him up to better participate.

After a moment, Kaito pulled back, the others following suit. Hakuba coughed and straightened his clothes. “In any case, we really do need to go.”

Kaito looked down at Kudo, who still hadn’t said a word. Kudo looked back up at him, face blank. Then he grinned. “You make a horrible pillow.”

...Well excuse him. “In that case, next time lay on Hattori, don’t sit on him.”

“He’s worse.”

“Hey!”

Hattori chased the laughing detective in the general direction of the door. Hakuba watched them with an amused smile before turning back to Kaito. “You will take care of yourself, won’t you? I’d rather not cause a scene at school, but I will if I have to.”

Kaito stuck out his tongue. “You’ve got my number, why would you have to?”

Hakuba paused, plainly surprised, before smiling. “I see.” His head jerked up at a yelp from the direction Hattori and Kudo had vanished. “Excuse me, I need to make sure they don’t break anything.”

Kaito watched him leave, then turned to head for the kitchen. He wanted to try Hakuba’s cooking, and something told him Hattori was the type to hog all the food if you let him. Just because he’d get another opportunity at some point didn’t mean he wouldn’t take advantage of this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said in the beginning, the story doesn't end here. I think that's pretty obvious - there are several plot threads left hanging - but it needed to be said. However, the focus of this work was how these guys recovered after having their 'normal' tossed upside down, and I think that's been pretty well covered for the moment.
> 
> As for the sequel... it will happen, but I make no promises as to when. Partly because of NaNoWriMo, partly because I'm going to need to do some proper outlining before starting it, and I'm not the best at that. But I can virtually guarantee that it will happen at some point, because I want to know the ending as much as anyone reading this. In the meantime, I've got a few days left on my ficlet collection, and I'll probably be writing shorts again after NaNo, so it's not like I'm vanishing from the fandom. I'm just not continuing this particular series for a while. 
> 
> All that aside, I'd like to thank everyone for reading this and sticking with it. It means a lot to me. :)
> 
> (edit: did an art for the start of this chapter. check it out on tumblr [ here](https://lessinkmoregraphite.tumblr.com/post/171469898417/i-felt-it-was-high-time-i-uploaded-this-picture).)


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